 Mason joined Jars of Clay as a founding member in 1993 with singer Dan Haseltine and pianist Charlie Lowell while studying at Greenville College in his home state of Illinois.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".