You know you’ve hit it big when you can choose anywhere in the country to move to as you write a new record.

But when Grammy Award winning artists Jars of Clay left their Nashville, Tenn., homes, they found themselves in the cold of Decorah, Iowa.

“We rented a house on the campus of Luther College where we had played a couple of years ago,” keyboardist Charlie Lowell said in a press release. “We liked the town, and it was as remote as we could get in the middle of winter!”

The product born of those Decorah sessions became “If I Left the Zoo,” the follow-up to 1995’s self-titled debut which spawned the hit single “Flood,” and 1997’s critically acclaimed sophomore effort “Much Afraid.”

The title of the new record was inspired by a Dr. Seuss book, and it pretty much sums up the lyrical theme for the record.

“The title kind of takes on the significance of wanting to get out of our boxes,” Lowell said. “We were saying ‘What if? What if I picked a different career; what if I changed my life? What might be, if we considered all the possibilities?'”

Along with a world of new songs and songwriting styles, “If I Left the Zoo” brought on a whole new attitude.

“We were each taken out of our comfort zones and pushed to be more playful where we may not have been before,” guitarist Stephen Mason said in a press release.

Mason, Lowell, frontman Dan Haseltine and guitarist Matt Odmark definitely wanted to change things up with the new album by taking new creative risks, reinstating the playful young sound originally captured on the group’s debut.

Even so, there were more intentions for the music this time around.

“We really wanted to challenge others to do what we’ve done, as individuals and as a band,” Haseltine said. “And that is look inside and see what you see but not take it too seriously.”

As Jars of Clay wrote “If I Left the Zoo,” they were nearing the millennium and were able write about some of their feelings about what’s to come in a song called “Goodbye, Goodnight.”

“It was fun to address concerns that we all have about the future,” Haseltine said. “And how to make the best out of what is unseen.”

In the song “Famous Last Words,” the band was able to tackle another issue that everyone deals with at some point in his or her life.

“It’s a ‘what if’ song about making the most out of relationships before it’s too late,” Lowell said.

Along with choosing where to write the new album, the band was also fortunate enough to pick its own producer.

The man who got the nod, Dennis Herring (known for his work with Counting Crows, Innocence Mission and Throwing Muses), added his touch to “If I Left the Zoo” as it was recorded in Oxford, Miss.

“We gave our songs to Dennis and he said, ‘These are great; now write a bunch more,'” Lowell said.

Good thing Herring made the order. The result was the album’s first single, “Unforgetful You,” which received radio play and appeared on the soundtrack for the Fox film “Drive Me Crazy” starring Melissa Joan Hart.

“We wanted to write a song that was so simple it drove us mad,” Lowell said.

But the song that Jars of Clay is exceptionally proud of is “I’m Alright.”

Using the Rolling Stones as a layout for the track, it includes a gospel choir and Keith Richards-style guitar part.

But the lyrical content is what makes them so proud.

“The reasons we believe we’re ‘alright’ as people are usually polar opposite to how we’re viewed,” Odmark said in a press release.

“We have to remember that what we see in ourselves as faults are oftentimes what make us who we are and what we are for others,” he said.

In the end, after all the hard work on the new record, Jars of Clay once again hit the road with another hectic touring schedule.

But it’s something they have used to their advantage.

“We learned so much in the last two years touring. We learned how to really play together,” Lowell said. “This album is definitely a reflection of how we’ve grown musically as a band.”