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Biography (courtesy of Essential Records)

It's fitting that dark, brooding—yes, even black—clouds are choking out the sun as Jars of Clay huddles in its tour bus in Columbus, Ohio. Even though the members of the band are a few hundred miles away, their hearts and minds are back home in Tennessee, where an entire state has cast curtains over the windows for a day to mourn the long-anticipated, but no less earth-shaking, loss of an American institution…Mr. Johnny Cash.

For Jars, musical kin a few generations removed, the day after was a time to reflect on Cash's looming shadow and also to express just how the Man in Black's influence—and his weathered journey—figured into the birth of Jars' latest self-produced album, "Who We Are Instead."

"We'd actually been listening to a lot of Johnny Cash leading up to this album," says Dan Haseltine, the band's lead singer. "The way he could get up with just an acoustic guitar and sing a simple song. It was captivating and made sense and gave it credibility all at the same time. When he sings a song like 'Amazing Grace,' you can hear the journey in his voice—from the addiction, the sorrow, and the pain, to the place where his God met him. When we started writing, we wanted to tell the kind of stories that would connect with people on that level."

A lofty goal to be sure, but 10 years, six albums and more than five million records sold into its already acclaimed career, Jars (Haseltine; acoustic guitarist, Matt Odmark; guitarist, Stephen Mason; and keyboardist, Charlie Lowell) sounds more than up for the task on Who We Are Instead. It's the first disc of all new material since 2002's The Eleventh Hour. After a decade in the spotlight as perennial Grammy winners and radio mainstays, Who We Are Instead finds Jars of Clay jerking free of the confines of being, well, Jars of Clay, and returning to the three-chords-and-the-truth formula that marked its rise from dorm-room jammers in Illinois to arena-filling artists.

"We were excited to just sit in a room and re-embrace the simple acoustic process that got us started," says Haseltine. "You know, strip all the hype and pop away and create an honest expression of the things we believe. Lyrically, the songs are simple and more focused, but we took great care to be as honest as we could about the things for which we are passionate."

Jars' unflinching approach to songwriting was the same type of raw-boned honesty that marked the career of Cash and other stalwarts of the roots and folk scene. Fittingly enough, the song Haseltine calls the record's "anchor song" is "Amazing Grace"—but not that "Amazing Grace." This soul-injected, alternate universe retelling of the traditional spiritual updates the well-known rags-to-riches tale with a new millennium spin.

"There's a mood to that song that I think really holds the album together," Haseltine explains. "We were trying to recapture our acoustic roots and make an album that was organic and soulful."

That stripped-down soul is in full effect on "Show You Love," another standout track. One of the first songs committed to tape during the Who We Are Instead sessions, it again showcases Jars' ability to tweak an otherwise familiar thematic subject—in this case, the well-worn world of love, and shine a unique light on its underbelly.

"Even from the initial demo, we knew there was something special about that song," Lowell says. "It examines how we engage others, how we love and what it is that drives us."

Another slightly retro twist in the Jars formula on the new album is the band's first recorded cover. Well known for its live experimentations with other artists' material, the band was prodded by—of all people—its lawyer to commit America's 70's AM-staple, "Lonely People," to tape.

"We were in a meeting with our lawyer, who in some sense is a better A&R guy than a lawyer," Odmark says. "He said, 'Why don't you guys cover "Lonely People"?' The message of the song seemed to fit well with the other songs in communicating the search for genuine faith in the midst of struggles, like loneliness and despair. And the song is just a good song."

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is Jars of Clay's ability to craft out-of-the-box rock songs that bleed deeper meaning from a sometimes shallow world. That formula, which they pioneered with their 1995 smash, "Flood," has been lucrative for bands like P.O.D., Lifehouse and Creed, but as Who We Are Instead proves, nobody can touch Jars for sheer charisma. As always, figuring out how to say something revelatory—and more importantly genuine—was key in the writing process.

"Passion always translates," Haseltine says. "Positive or negative, passion always elicits a response. When someone believes in something enough that it shapes their existence, their rituals and the way they view the world, and they write about it, it's going to stir something in others that come in contact with them. So for us, we find it's a good thing to say exactly what it is we believe."

However, Jars' lyrics may translate. In a post 9-11 country where war and repression are the unyielding themes of the day, their skill at carving out rays of sunlight in otherwise dire situations clearly resonates.

"Most of our songs are made in the midst of weakness and trying to figure out how faith fits into the picture," Haseltine says. "Amid great suffering and tragedy there has to be a greater voice to which we can listen. Where can faith meet us in those places?"

Questions like that will probably take a lifetime of experience to be answered properly, but in the meantime, Jars of Clay will keep exploring the possibilities—inwardly, outwardly, and of course, on stage.

"We're still trying to grow as songwriters," Haseltine insists. "We're nowhere near where we need to be, but we still go into the studio and try to write songs that are excellent. It's the same way with our live show. The only thing we know, by watching bands like U2, is that the way you become a great band is just to keep playing shows—because there's still so much for us to learn. I mean, we don't feel acclaimed."

With past successes behind them and an album laden with intricately crafted tunes in Who We Are Instead Jars of Clay maintains its passion and integrity to art and music, both in the studio and on the road.