Jars of Clay / Jennifer Knapp Interview

www.thejesusunderground.com

I recently attended the 3 O'clock Parade tour, featuring Jars of Clay and Jennifer Knapp, in Sioux Falls, SD. After the show, I had the opportunity to ask Dan Haseltine (lead singer for Jars of Clay) and Jennifer Knapp a few questions.

TJU: If you had to choose one song for people to remember you by, what would it be and why? Dan: Unforgettable, by Nat King Cole....no, I guess for me, the song that kind of resonates with what the band is about would be Worlds Apart. That is the one song that I think has really captured something, something a bit deeper than any of our other songs. So I think that would be the song I’d want people to remember us by.
	TJU: Now that listeners have had the opportunity to hear the alternate chorus to the song Grace (on The White Elephant Sessions), we’re curious as to why the chorus was changed for If I Left the Zoo. Dan: We had written that song originally for the album Much Afraid, and in its first form, it was a bit of a black sheep for that record. Before we really revisited it, we thought it needed to be changed. We wanted to make it a little less aggressive and give it a little bit more hope, because at the time, the original version of the song was a little bit dark and it didn’t really represent what Much Afraid was about. The new version represents more the season we were in doing If I Left the Zoo.
TJU: What do you consider your current mission statement, or purpose for the band, and has it changed since you started six years ago? Dan: It probably hasn’t changed that much. We really hope to keep making music that spreads the truth and is affected by our faith. And that it would be somewhat contagious I guess. Also, that people would see that we don’t intentionally write “Christian” music, but that it really is an outpouring of what God has done.		Steve, Greg, Dan, Charlie, Dave, Matt

	TJU: What do you hope to accomplish through your music? Jennifer: World Peace and ending world hunger... no, I think ultimately it starts at a really selfish level. Needing to experience God in the ways that I need to experience him in order to become more like Christ. I think as a result of that, hopefully trying to be vulnerable with other people that we can share and kind of be a light unto the world for other people. TJU: What is you favorite song to perform and why? Jennifer: I think my favorite song to perform, most consistently, is When Nothing Satisfies You from the new record (Lay it Down). It has really been a blessing and I think it really culminates the whole record into one song. It also reminds me on a daily basis when I get to sing it that no matter all these other extracurricular activities buzzing around, like it’s really busy right now, people pulling me this way and that, ultimately it comes down to keeping my eyes focused on Christ.
TJU: Now that you’ve been on tour the past few years opening for the likes of Audio Adrenaline, dc Talk, Third Day, and now Jars of Clay, do you think you’re ready to headline your our tour? Jennifer: We actually are going to headline a tour this Spring with Bebo Norman and Justin McRoberts. We’re going to call it the Back Forty tour, its not going to be really huge or anything. We’ve been doing the rock vibe for a little over a year now, and on the Spring tour we’d like to tear it down and see it a little bit more conversational.