Jars of Clay gets Dove Award Nominations

Creatively linking arms with its peers in the artist community has led to three artist nominations, and two producer credits, for veteran progressive band Jars of Clay for the 42^nd Annual GMA Dove Awards, as announced today in Atlanta, Ga., the location for this year’s Dove Awards show.

Jars of Clay’s most recent release, the community-minded Jars of Clay Presents: The Shelter, picked up nominations as artist and producer in the Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year and Praise & Worship Album of the Year categories, while the band’s contribution to The Essential Christmas Collection project was also nominated for Christmas Album of the Year.

The Dove Awards nominations only highlight a very busy early 2011 for Jars of Clay, as the band is in the midst of The Rock & Worship Roadshow tour together with MercyMe, Thousand Foot Krutch, Matt Maher, The Afters and Lecrae. The tour runs through March 13 in Fresno, Calif., after which Jars of Clay will resume The Shelter Tour with Matt Maher, Derek Webb and Audrey Assad on March 30 in Greensburg, Pa., running through May 7 in Jackson, Miss.

Additionally, the band will help celebrate its philanthropic organization Blood:Water Mission’s completion of The 1000 Wells Project with a May 10 benefit concert at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. Throughout the special evening, musical performances will be interwoven with video vignettes sharing the history, journey and forward-looking goals of Blood:Water Mission. Tickets for the Well:Done Celebration can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com or the Ryman Auditorium box office. VIP ticket information can be obtained by emailing bloodwater@bloodwatermission.com.

The 42nd Annual GMA Dove Awards will be held at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Ga. on Wednesday, April 20th. The awards show will be televised on GMC at 8:00p.m. ET/delayed PT on Easter Sunday, April 24th.

The GMA Dove Awards is Christian/Gospel music’s biggest night of the year, where top artists from every style of gospel music come together for a night of music and celebration as the GMA bestows the industry’s highest honor — the Dove Award.

The 42nd Annual Dove Awards will be held on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Ga. and televised nationwide on gmc ( http://e2ma.net/go/9094250034/3442941/103219443/23771/goto:http://www.gmclife.com ), Sunday, April 24, 2011 from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. EST. gmc is the fastest-growing network in television and can be seen in 47 million homes on various cable systems around the country, on DIRECTV on channel 338 and on Verizon FiOS on channel 224.

Jars of Clay, made up of members Dan Haseltine (vocals), Charlie Lowell (keyboards), Stephen Mason (guitars), and Matt Odmark (guitars), launched its breakout career with the multi-format hit “Flood” in 1995. Since then, the band has amassed more than 6 million in career sales (5 Gold, 2 Platinum and 1 Double Platinum certification), three GRAMMY Awards (from 8 nominations), an American Music Award nod, multiple GMA Dove Award nominations, 17 No. 1 radio hits, and numerous film credits and BMI honors for songwriting and performing. On Oct. 5, 2010, Jars of Clay released the compelling and community-minded project, Jars of Clay Presents: The Shelter.

The band recently wrapped its fall co-headlining tour with Brandon Heath, which sold out 7 cities during the 23-city run. In partnership with Blood:Water Mission and Food for the Hungry, the tour saw nearly 25,000 fans and more than 400 kids sponsored.

While celebrated for its music and writing, Jars of Clay is most concerned with the needs in Africa. Compelled to make a difference, the group successfully launched the Blood:Water Mission, a non-profit organization promoting clean blood and water in Africa. Since the band’s debut, Jars of Clay has built an extraordinary career based on the uncompromising integrity of its music, worldview, and humanitarianism. For more information, please go to www.jarsofclay.com.