Stephen Daniel Mason (born July 8, 1975) is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay.

Biography

Mason was born in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

Kot, Greg: "Bridges to Babylon". ''Guitar World Acoustic'', No. 25. Retrieved from on May 13, 2006. in 1975, however was brought up from age 8 in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

where he attended Warrensburg-Latham schools. Mason joined Jars of Clay as a founding member in 1993 with singer

Dan Haseltine Daniel Paul Haseltine (born January 12, 1973) is an American singer best known as lead vocalist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars of Clay. Haseltine has performed vocals, piano, accordion, percussion and melodica, while with Jars of ...

and pianist

Charlie Lowell Charles Daniel Lowell (born October 21, 1973)Jars WorldJars World: Music: Tim. Date of Birth noted. Retrieved 9 August 2007. is an American pianist most known for being the pianist and keyboardist for Christian alternative folk rock group Jars o ...

while studying at

Greenville College Greenville University is a private university in Greenville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. Established as Greenville College in 1892, the institution was renamed Greenville University in 2017. History In 1855, Stephe ...

in his home state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. As a submission piece to get into college, Mason wrote an instrumental guitar piece entitled " Frail" which was later recorded and used as the namesake for the group's first demo '' Frail''. The song later had lyrics added by Jars of Clay's lead singer Dan Haseltine for the group's second album '' Much Afraid''. Growing up in Illinois, Mason is a

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

football team supporter, but also now supports the Tennessee Titans, who play in his adopted city of Nashville. He is also a supporter of the

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

soccer club, where he attended its first

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

home match dressed as

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

, resulting in national attention and the club referring to him as "Soccer Moses". In 2014, Stephen qualified as a Master Barber and has started cutting hair at his shop, The Handsomizer.

Personal life

Mason married former

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

producer Jude Adam on October 24, 2009.

Guitars, amps, and pedals

Mason uses a range of different guitars for performing with Jars of Clay, both electric and acoustic. Some of them he uses exclusively in the studio and others exclusively for live performances. *"Grand Auditorium"

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) **List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Plac ...

twelve string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

Tal Farlow Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. He was nicknamed "Octopus" because of how his large, quick hands spread over the fretboard. As Steve Rochinski notes, "Of all the guitarists to emerge in th ...

" series *

Baby Taylor George Ellis "Baby" Taylor (March 6, 1892 – March 24, 1926) was an American college football player and coach. He assisted the 1916 Spring Hill Badgers football team. Auburn University Football Taylor was a prominent tackle for Mike Don ...

guitar *

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

Backpacker travel guitar *Gibson "

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music s ...

" series * Fender

Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bod ...

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

*Matchless Chief Guitar Amp *Vox AC-30 As for pedals, over the years Mason has been seen using a Boss Tuner, Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde, Swell Pedals G-TOD, Tonephile Puredrive, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, DMB Pedals, and a Pedaltrain pedalboard.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Stephen American rock guitarists American male guitarists Living people 1975 births Jars of Clay members American performers of Christian music Christian music songwriters Musicians from Joliet, Illinois Musicians from Decatur, Illinois Guitarists from Illinois