Navigation:
- About the Album
- Liner Notes & Lyrics
- The Missing Jar: Matt Bronleewe
- The Black Ring: Fake Frails
- Media
THE MISSING JAR: MATT BRONLEEWE
When Jars of Clay formed at Greenville College in 1993-1994, it was Dan, Steve, Charlie, and Matt. But it wasn’t Matt Odmark – it was Matt Bronleewe! Bronleewe helped form the band and co-wrote many of the songs that would become hits on their first album, but he left the band before they gained national exposure.
So who is this “Missing Jar,” and what has he been up to since parting with Jars of Clay? Longtime fan Sara Huse did some digging, and here’s what she found…
Matt Bronleewe was born in Dallas, Texas. While he was still very young, the Bronleewe family moved to Kansas. This move was made so that Bronleewe’s father could run the family farm located in Lorraine, Kansas. He lived in Kansas until he graduated from high School in 1992.
In the fall of 1992, Bronleewe began studying music at Greenville College, located about an hour from St. Louis in small town of Greenville, Illinois. It was early in his time at Greenville College that he met Dan Haseltine, Charlie Lowell and Stephen Mason. As a part of their studies, they began writing and recording songs together. As they realized the potential of what they were creating together, they formed the band Jars of Clay, taking their name from 2 Corinthians 4:7. Jars of Clay began performing in coffee shops near Greenville as well as the St. Louis area. The group soon recorded a demo album titled Frail.
After winning a talent competition sponsored by the Gospel Music Association, there was a lot of buzz around Jars of Clay and they were offered a recording contract by Essential Records. At this point, all of the members of the band were still enrolled at Greenville College. Bronleewe made the decision to finish his studies at Greenville and married soon after that. It was at this time that Lowell suggested that his good friend from high school, Matt Odmark, join the band in Bronleewe’s place.
Matt Brownleewe worked on his studies for one more year, living in Sterling, IL. It was another Greenville College students, Sarah Jahn, who encouraged Brownleewe to come back to music. He played on an album she was recording at the time, then ended up playing for Jahn full-time. Because of this involvement in the music industry, Brownleewe move to Nashvillle. This also afforded him to pursue other opportunities to collaborate with other musicians as a songwriter and producer. His experience with Jars of Clay opened some doors for Bronleewe. He produced the debut album by Plumb. This reunited Brownlee and Haseltine as they wrote the song “Concrete” together along with Tiffany Arbuckle of the band. Bronleewe has since worked with such notable artists as Chris Tomlin, Michael W. Smith, Stephen Curtis Chapman, Jason Castro, Natalie Grant, dc Talk, Selena Gomez, Leeland, and Hayden Pannetiere.
In addition to his accomplishments in the music industry, Bronleewe has also written three books that form a series. His first book is called Illuminated and it was released in April of 2008. In it, the main character, August Adams, must try to solve a puzzle held within the illuminations of three Gutenberg bibles. Comparisons have been made between the book and The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. The second book in the series, House of Wolves, came out in August, 2009. The book continues the story of August Adams as he carries a book that he thinks is a fake of The Gospels of Henry the Lion, but holds a great deal of importance and mystery. December of 2013 saw the release of Bronleewe’s most recent release. Man of Action again follows August Adams, this time as he transports a rare comic to San Diego, not knowing how dangerous a job this could be.
In 2009, Bronleewe began to work with Haseltine once again. The two long-time friends formed the band The Hawk in Paris along with Jeremy Bose. They released a seven song EP, His+Hers, in 2011. The album is a collection of 80s-influcenced synth-pop songs that have a sound similar to The Cure, Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys. The band’s first full-length album, Freaks, was released in 2013. It included some songs from the His+Hers EP. The band filmed a video for the title track from the album. It was also featured on the TV show Pretty Little Liars. The band last released music in February 2015 in the form of a single called, “Frozen Heart”.
Nowadays, Brownleewe remains an active music producer, songwriter, and author. You can keep up with his latest work at mattbronleewe.com.