Third Day

One of the biggest joys of my faith is listening to great Christian music. I love music from the Passion conferences, dc Talk, and Andrew Peterson (which I’ve written about several times). One of my favorite bands, however, is Third Day.

A history of the group (from WikiPedia):

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.

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. 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. Still, Third Day continued to work on their first full-length album with an additional member, electric guitarist August McCoy, recording at Furies Studios in Atlanta. The album was finally released in 1994 with 2,000 copies available. In 1995, the band started looking for a new 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 Marietta 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.

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.

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”). The album also yielded their only mainstream rock radio hit in the U.S., “Nothing at All”, which peaked at #34 on the Billboard rock charts. 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”.

In 1998, the band started working on their next project titled Time under the production of Monroe Jones. 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. 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.

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 Amphitheatre 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. 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.

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”. In January 2007, the band played one night each in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney, Australia.

Their next album, Wherever You Are, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #8. 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. Their next studio album called Revelation was 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. The band also performed at the Papal Youth Rally in March 2008. The song “This Is Who I Am” from their new album Revelation appears in NASCAR 09, though the album was released over a month after the game.

There you have it. I just wanted to give you some focus on an amazing band. They have led me to the throne of grace several times with their music.

Some of my favorite Third Days songs include:

• “Love Song”
• “Thief”
• “King of Glory”
• “God of Wonders”
• “Show Me Your Glory”
• “Cry Out to Jesus”
• “Blessed Assurance”
• “I See Love”
• “Nothing Compares”

There are definitely more songs that I enjoy from this group, but it’s a good list. I would like to hear from you! If you enjoy Third Day, what’s your favorite song?