Creation Festival

PANAMA CITY, FL - Charlie Lowell is honest, maybe too honest, he says. As one of the original members of Jars of Clay, it hasn’t always been easy to speak his mind or live up to expectations,” Lowell says. “The weight of church was on our shoulders, not sure what they expected, but too much.”
   
The band had the Christian label attached to them, and although Lowell admits, “we put the label there,” there still was a lot of pressure.
   
“I think the challenge is to be honest, not just say what you think you’re supposed to,” Lowell says.
   
The band’s lyrics now reflect the daily struggles with relationships and doubts.
   
“We don’t always have to be right, have the answers, keeps us whole as people,” Lowell says. “You start to feel like a puppet, an actor after a while, if you’re just saying what others want to hear. Keep it blunt, honest.”
   
The original band, formed in the early ’90s, also included Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason and Justin Gabriel. Lowell had first met Haseltine after noticing his Toad the Wet Sprocket T-shirt while both were studying music at Greenville College in Greenville, Ill.
   
“We literally dropped out of college, literally 22, 23 years old, and began to pursue Jars. We were forced to learn how to be business partners,” Lowell says.

The band from Franklin, Tenn., had to do a lot of growing up, and this evolution is shown in their albums. But the biggest change for the band came after lead singer Dan Haseltine visited Africa, and the band started traveling to Africa in 2002 in an effort to make a difference with the AIDS epidemic.

“We were aware we had a platform, not a huge one, but not an insignificant one,” Lowell says with humility.

Jars formed Blood: Water Mission, a nonprofit organization promoting clean blood and water in Africa. Since 2004, the mission has funded 617 water projects in 11 countries. It has been working on completing its 1,000 Wells Project, providing clean water and sanitation to 1,000 communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
   
On Sept. 18, Lowell left Nashville with Jars to head to Wichita, Kan., as they embarked on Creation Festival: The Tour. The multi-Platinum and three-time Grammy Award-winning band headlines the tour, which stops in more than 25 cities. The second annual tour allows fans across the country to experience one night of music and ministry. Interlinc and Youth Specialties bring youth leaders into the concert.
   
Lowell is excited “to bring in a younger audience.” He says it is a great challenge, since when Jars travels alone, the audience usually ranges from college age through 40.
   
Lowell, who plays piano, organ, accordion, keyboard, as well as sings background vocals, is aware of the influence of his Christian rock band with mainstream success. The band has sold more than 6 million albums, and its latest, “The Long Fall Back to Earth,” was released in April. The 10th album debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard 200 mainstream charts.
   
Produced by Jars of Clay with longtime collaborators, Mitch Dane (Bebo Norman, Caedmon’s Call, Kyle Matthews) and Ron Aniello (Lifehouse, Barenaked Ladies, Guster), “The Long Fall Back to Earth,” is rich in with deep soulful choruses, pop, acoustic guitars and Depeche Mode-inspired influence for a new sound.
   
Lowell says the new album picks up where “Good Monsters” left off. The band often has talked about this view of humanity from 30,000 feet above Earth. The new album focuses on connecting. The band had gotten together as friends to discuss what was going on in their daily lives, and they all were struggled with relationships, “whether marriage or parenting.”
   
“For us, this record is all about relationships. We’ve written a lot in the past about this 30-foot view, looking down,” Lowell says. “Really, our relationships are where our spirituality shows up. The record’s very nitty-gritty, a lot of songs longing for intimacy, a good place to fight to save marriage, hope. It feels, maybe at times, a little too honest.”
   
Haseltine is the primary lyricist for the band. Spirituality is something the Christian band lives and practices, not preaches about.
   
“We’re not really interested in writing commercials for God, although that may sound harsh, we feel free to write songs about our doubts, marriage, raising children, such as “Boys” on the album., not concerned about making it a Christian song,” Lowell says.
   
Lowell and his wife have three boys of their own. In addition to 9-year-old twin boys, they had another son about two months ago.
   
Track 9, “Boys (Lesson One),” on the new album speaks of an unconditional love a parent has for a child and guiding a child into becoming his or her authentic self.
   
The first line is “Lesson one – do not hide.” Lesson two is “there are right ways to fight,” and third lesson is “you’re not alone / Not since I saw you start breathing on your own.”
   
“It comes out as a Christian world view, also there are doubts, struggles, questions and pain,” Lowell says.
   
The music, the band and the message are accessible — perhaps part of the reason the band has successfully crossed over genres.
   
“A lot of it is timing, but I do think we really tried to,” Lowell says. “It is typically the songs that are very blunt. When you turn on Christian radio, you won’t typically find a song that really helps us in a crappy day, that’s where we find inspiration.” The band doesn’t limit itself to touring with only Christian-labeled bands. “We’re pretty open to tour with anyone, from time to time,” Lowell says. But this tour, which stops Oct. 11 at the Marina Civic Center, is about paying tribute to the Creator.