Multiple Platinum and GRAMMY-Awards winning band Jars of Clay brings its December “Inland Christmas Tour” to Louisville, KY Dec. 12 with special guest John Mark McMillan. The tour benefits Blood:Water Mission and promises to be a multi-instrumental and musically collaborative experience with Jars of Clay performing a combination of Christmas music, fan favorites and selections from its current album, Inland, which released amidst acclaim Aug. 27 on the band’s Gray Matters label. Inland is available now everywhere great music is sold, including online at iTunes and Amazon.com.
“Our Christmas concerts tend to be the most creative events of the year for Jars of Clay,” says lead vocalist, Dan Haseltine. “We incorporate toy pianos, concert bass drums, mini-bass, xylophones, strings and bells, along with all the usual instruments, lights and presentation to shine a warm light on a season of peace and joy.”

Extending that joy to others beyond the tour, Jars of Clay is partnering with the charity it founded to help combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. “LIVE AID showed us it was possible for artists to come together and raise awareness, and Blood:Water Mission is our opportunity to do the same,” says Haseltine. “With our African partners, we’ve dug over 1,300 wells in more than 11 countries providing at least 800,000 people with clean water, as well as started four clinics that give about 25,000 people access to HIV testing and antiviral drugs. All this was all born out of our idea that our fans would join us and make the Mission part of their story, which they have since 2002!”

Jars of Clay is also giving away the song, “Fall Asleep,” from its acclaimed album, Inland, through a special NoiseTrade offering to raise money for relief efforts in the Philippines. With thousands of dollars already raised, all of the proceeds from the single will be used to support The Red Cross in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, claimed to be the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history.
The official music video for “Fall Asleep,” which premiered on USAToday.com and is now being promoted in various video channels, was created in Manila, directed by Luis Tabuena and stars Filipino super-model/actress, Rhian Ramos.