Third Day

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Third Day
Third Day performing live at Hillsong Church, Sydney.
Third Day performing live at Hillsong Church, Sydney.
Background information
Origin Flag of the United States Marietta, Georgia USA
Genre(s) CCM Praise Worship
Years active 1991 - Present
Label(s) Essential Records
Website http://www.thirdday.com/
Members
Mac Powell
Tai Anderson
David Carr
Mark Lee
Former members
Brad Avery

Third Day is a CCM band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell and guitarist Mark Lee. The other band members are Tai Anderson (bass), and David Carr (drums). The band's name is a reference to the biblical account of Jesus rising from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

Third Day began in 1991, when singer Mac Powell and guitarist Mark Lee finished studying at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. They had already played together in a garage band called Nuclear Hoedown, but now wanted to form a band where they could express their faith in God. Powell and Lee added a keyboard player named Billy Wilkins, and dedicated their time to write songs and perform around the state of Georgia.[1]

In 1992, they were playing at Lee's church the same night that drummer David Carr and bassist Tai Anderson were playing with a band called Bullard Family Singers. Their youth director asked the band to perform at their church. The group took along quickly and were invited to join the band.[2] The album that Carr produced would be released the next year under the title Long Time Forgotten.

In 1993, while dealing with their studies, the band started playing more aggressively around Atlanta and saved $3,000 to record a full-length album. Also, during this time, original member, Billy Wilkins, who was working as a school teacher, ended up leaving the band.[3] Still, Third Day continued to work on their first full-length album, recording at Furies Studios in Atlanta. The album was finally released in 1994 with 2,000 copies available.[4] In 1995, the band started looking for a second guitarist. They had heard Brad Avery play with singer Chris Carder and asked him to play with the band. After playing "Consuming Fire" during their first rehearsal, Avery officially joined the band.

As the band completed its line-up, they also started playing steadily around the South-east area. They also started playing at an Atlanta venue called the Strand Theatre. The management of the local decided to sign the band to a new independent record label called Gray Dot Records. That same year, the band released the album Third Day, which ended up selling 20,000 copies. Shortly after, Reunion Records signed the band to a multi-album deal.[5]

[edit] Signed by Reunion Records

After being signed by Reunion Records, they immediately released the now official version of Third Day's first album in 1996. The record has sold over 300,000 copies and was received well by critics. That same year, popular band Newsboys asked Third Day to open five of their shows around the West Coast. They also launched their own tour over 65 cities which ended up being a success. All Star United and Seven Day Jesus opened for them. The band was also nominated for the Dove Award for New Artist of the Year, and the video of "Consuming Fire" won a Billboard Award for Best Christian video.[6]

In the winter of 1997, the band started working on their second album, Conspiracy No. 5. The album was produced by Sam Taylor, who had previously worked with bands like King's X. The album was nominated for a Grammy and won Dove Awards for Rock Album of the Year and Rock Song of the Year ("Alien").[7] The following year, the band dedicated exclusively to touring around the US, alone and opening for the Newsboys again. They also collaborated on the Dove Award winning project from Michael W. Smith called Exodus. They recorded a cover of one of Smith's song called "Agnus Dei".

[edit] International Success

In 1998, the band started working on their next project titled Time under the production of Monroe James. They had compiled around 30 songs to choose from during the last year, and ended up choosing only ten. The album was also nominated for a Grammy and won another Dove Award for the band. Some of the other songs the band recorded, but were left out can be found in the EP Southern Tracks.[8] Also, during the band's live shows, the worship part was becoming more "powerful", which prompted them to release an album exclusively of worship songs, titled Offerings: A Worship Album. The album was recorded in about a week, and they followed it with a tour alongside Jennifer Knapp. They also collaborated in the project called City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise.[9]

In 2001, the band played in Australia and New Zealand on the heels of the success of the Offerings album. They continued to tour in the States, and recorded one of their concerts in Atlanta to be released as their first DVD, The Offerings Experience. The concert was held at the Hi-Fi Buys Ampitheatre with an attendance of close to 15,000 people. That same year, the band won a total of five Dove Awards as well as their first Grammy. They followed that year with the release of Come Together which ended up winning two Dove Awards and one more Grammy. The album was certified gold the next year, along with Time.[10][11] In 2003, they also released a follow-up to their hit Offerings titled Offerings II: All I Have to Give.

The band appeared in the 2002 film "Joshua", the movie version of the Joseph Girzone novel of the same name. The Third Day song "My Hope is You" was included in the Joshua soundtrack album.

[edit] Recent Years

In 2004, the band released their next album, Wire, and toured the States with tobyMac and Warren Barfield. In June of the same year, the band traveled to Europe for a two-week tour. Upon returning, the band recorded a concert at Louisville which ended up as their next project, Live Wire, released later that year. During that year, they also collaborated on the soundtrack for Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, they played at the Republican National Convention, and were featured in the show 60 Minutes.[12] In January 2007, the band played one night each in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney, Australia.[13]

Their next album, Wherever You Are, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #8.[14] It also won the band their third Grammy. They have followed it with the holiday album, Christmas Offerings in 2006, and with a compilation of their hits titled Chronology in 2007. They are currently working on their next studio album due to be released July 29, 2008. On February 28th, 2008, Third Day released a statement announcing Brad Avery's departure from the band after 13 years and over 1000 concerts.

[edit] Members

[edit] Current

[edit] Past

  • Billy Wilkins, keyboards. Wilkins was one of the original members of Third Day, from 1991 to 1993, along with Powell and Lee. He was also with the group when Anderson and Carr joined, both of whom were still in high school at the time. He is currently a high school teacher at Hillgrove High School, in the same town where both Powell and Lee graduated in 1991. He has recorded with Third Day as recently as 2004, when he played "Blessed Assurance" on a project for author/speaker Max Lucado. In 2007, film footage of three of the band's earliest concerts were released on the two projects "Chronology I and II," in which Billy is included.
  • Geof Barkley, keyboards. Barkley (formerly of Geoff Moore and the Distance) played keyboards on every live album in the band's history and every live show for nearly seven years. Barkley also performed on Wherever You Are. Although never officially a member of the band, Brad Avery has described Barkley as '"in the band", but he's not a "member" of Third Day, that's two different things. But he is in the band, and he plays with us live every night, and he rocks.' Barkley's background vocals in songs such as "God of Wonders" and "Took My Place" as well as "You Are So Good To Me" have become integral parts of Third Day's live sound. Barkley finished touring with Third Day on October 21, 2005 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Brad Avery, Guitars. From Third Day Weblog by Third Day. "Third Day and Brad Avery have made the very difficult decision to part ways. We appreciate Brad’s many contributions to the band's career to date, including his work on our forthcoming album, but the time has come for us to follow our separate paths. He has been an important part of Third Day for the last 13 years as we've traveled the world together and performed over 1,000 concerts. We will miss him as a band member but he will always remain our brother and our friend. Brad is a wonderful person, gifted songwriter and talented musician. We trust that God has amazing plans for his future." Analysis of the wording at ChristianConcertZine.com.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio and live albums

Album Title Release Date Label RIAA Certification
Third Day February 25, 1997 Reunion Records Gold
Conspiracy No. 5 August 26, 1997 Reunion Records ---
Time August 24, 1999 Essential Records Gold
Offerings: A Worship Album July 11, 2000 Essential Records Platinum
Come Together November 6, 2001 Essential Records Gold
Offerings II: All I Have to Give March 4, 2003 Essential Records Gold
Wire May 4, 2004 Essential Records Gold
Live Wire 2004 Essential Records Platinum
Wherever You Are November 1, 2005 Essential Records Gold
Christmas Offerings October 17, 2006 Reunion/Essential/Brentwood Records ---
Chronology Volume 1 March 27, 2007 Essential Records ---
Chronology Volume 2 August 7, 2007 Essential Records ---
Revelation July 29, 2008 Essential Records ---

[edit] EPs

Album Title Release Date Label Album Information
Southern Tracks August 24, 1999 Essential Records Released with limited copies of Time.
Carry Me Home August, 2002 Essential Records Recorded to benefit Habitat for Humanity during the Come Together tour.
Wherever You Are Bonus CD November, 2005 Essential Records Released in limited quantities with purchase of Wherever You Are.

[edit] Early Independent Albums

Album Title Release Date Label
Long Time Forgotten 1993 Independent
Contagious 1994 Independent
Third Day 1995 Gray Dot Records

[edit] Music videos

  • "Consuming Fire" (1996)
  • "You Make Me Mad" (1997)
  • "Your Love Oh Lord" (1999)
  • "Cry Out To Jesus" (2006) - The original shooting of the "Cry Out To Jesus" music video.
  • "Cry Out To Jesus" (Band Version) (2006) - A shooting of the "Cry Out To Jesus" music video in which the band enters the studio through one continuous shot lasting over half of the song. Released for the Chronology: Volume I DVD.

[edit] Live DVDs

  • The Offerings Experience (2002)
  • The Come Together Tour (2003)
  • Live Wire (2004)

[edit] Awards

[edit] Grammy Awards

[edit] Gospel Music Awards

[edit] Fans

Some Fans of the band are collectively called Gomers. Gomer, in a sense, is their last name. Each Gomer chooses a first name, such as Happy Gomer, Mac Gomer etc. In the Bible, Gomer is the name of the prophet Hosea's unfaithful wife. No matter how many times Gomer left Hosea, Hosea would always rescue her when she got into trouble. This story is explored in Third Day's song "Gomer's Theme" off the album Conspiracy No. 5. Fans began using the name for themselves on the forums of the Third Day website in 2001, as a way of identifying their human unfaithfulness to God and accepting his "purchase" as Hosea did. When attending Third Day concerts, Gomers wear the color orange, so that the band can see them easily from the stage.[15]

In San Diego, California, Third Day's inspirational song "Tunnel" can be heard each Friday at 10:00am on Rock 105.3 (callsign KIOZ); it is used by the host of The Mikey Show, Mike Esparza. Esparza is a born-again Christian DJ who turned his life around after coming to grips with addiction and a stay at The Betty Ford Center. He closes the morning drive show out each Friday using the song as a backdrop.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1991).
  2. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1992).
  3. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1993).
  4. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1994).
  5. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1995).
  6. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1996).
  7. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1997).
  8. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (1999).
  9. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (2000).
  10. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (2001).
  11. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (2002).
  12. ^ Third Day. Third Day Timeline (2004).
  13. ^ 96five FM and 7News Tour Information
  14. ^ Billboard.com. Billboard Third Day Chart History.
  15. ^ A longer explanation of what the term Gomer means

[edit] External links

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