History

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 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.[4] 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.



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 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.[8] 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".



International Success

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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11][12] 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.



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.[13] In January 2007, the band

played one night each in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney, Australia.[14]

Their next album, Wherever You Are, debuted on the Billboard 200 at #8.[15] 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. They appeared on The Late Show with David

Letterman on July 10 2008 and then on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 29, 2008.



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