NEWS SOURCE: Kompolt
October 22, 2008
In conjunction with the first annual “Building a Greater Los Angeles Gala” held October 1, 2008, celebrity volunteers and supporters of Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity have donated several items and opportunities to get involved with music, film, and television stars. Among the featured listings is an item from contemporary Christian rockers Third Day—who’ve had an ongoing relationship with Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity for years, donating funds that built several Habitat homes and building alongside several homeowners in the past. This summer, during the Music Builds Tour, Third Day worked alongside Habitat homeowners building Habitat homes while raising funds for Habitat for Humanity.
In support of the partnership with Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity, and to help Habitat raise funds Third Day has generously donated this unique and hand painted guitar. Jam to your favorite Third Day song with a PRS SE Electric Guitar with hand painted artwork from the new album Revelation. Autographed by the band, the guitar is strewn with messages of hope and inspiration, all in an edgy design—this special edition guitar is truly a musical revelation!
The auction runs now through October 30th, so place your bids today by entering at www.ebay.com/habitat.
Christian Music News Source
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
HM Magazine Spotlight: Third Day
HM: Hey, I have been enjoying the new record. It feels familiar, yet it sounds like you’ve pushed beyond the traditional comfort zones for Third Day. Was it just time to do something different?
Mac Powell: Yeah, it was a little bit of a lot of different things. The main thing is that we’ve done this for a number of years now—I forget the count, this is either our ninth or tenth studio record, depending on what you consider a studio record—and there was this sense of urgency in me personally, and I think in the rest of the band, that we didn’t want it to be, "OK, there’s another Third Day record." I didn’t want that this time. I wanted it to be, "Wow, look at this Third day record." It needed to be a little different, it needed to be bigger and better.
HM: This is a very weird time in the music industry, by and large, and that has implications for the Christian music world. People are buying less CDs and downloading or sharing more. CCM Magazine is now only available online. The technology and the market and the generational shifts have everyone in a state of flux. As a result, what’s commonly called Contemporary Christian Music as a whole seems dominated by in-house focused worship product. Which means, the vision I grew up with—that Christians would make great, relevant and artful rock statements—has been pretty much abandoned. Instead of influencing the mainstream markets, we’ve carved out our own little ghetto niche, and are largely disregarded by the larger media forces of radio, etc. Where does all that leave Third Day?
Mac: For us, it’s always felt like, on the one hand we’re one of the main bands in Christian music, but on the other hand, sometimes you don’t feel like you belong at all. That being said, I’m very positive about our market. I love being a Christian band. To take what you said a step further, even if we went out and tried to be a mainstream band, and tried to not be a Christian band, we couldn’t pull that off. There’s too much music out there now, too much that’s been said. We can’t hide who Third Day is.
HM: Anybody with Google and some spare time can learn way too much about all of us. There’s no hiding or pretending to be something different than you are anymore.
Mac: But that doesn’t frustrate us; that actually makes us feel comfortable. To do something to sound cool or be different than that would finally sound silly. After 15 years, we know who we are. And in that, you’re still striving to do more and be better. Even musically there’s that balance—how do we play the music that’s who we are, and what we’re good at, and what our fans want to hear, and at the same time push it in a little different direction? There’s this constant balancing act, where hopefully you’re morphing a little bit—not too much, but enough to keep it interesting.
And then there’s the seasonal things, too. I can’t wait until we get to do another worship record, I’m very excited about that. However, on the flip side of that, we’re constantly trying to make music that’s going to go outside of our market as well.
HM: Do you even think that’s possible these days?
Mac: Yeah, absolutely. I think you make a quality product, and a great song is a great song. There are many examples from friends like P.O.D., Sixpence and Jars, that prove that if you have a great song, it can go beyond… But that’s not automatic. So many other things have to line up. There are many variables, but it is possible. So, that’s our hope. I don’t think we’ll, by any means, have a No. 1 hit on mainstream radio, or anything like that, but there’s mainstream stations today that are playing our music. We’re getting a song in a video game, and people are getting songs in movie soundtracks, so you can still have some mainstream accessibility without even having to go to radio.
HM: Radio seems pretty dead and repetitive; it’s probably over.
Mac: I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s not what it was.
HM: I know very few people who are listening to radio, who depend on it to supply their musical fix or to introduce them to new music. Those that are tuned in are listening to satellite, where the plethora of channel options mean you’ll be very unlikely to hear music or programming that doesn’t fit your established values, tastes and politics—which makes it more niche-y.
Mac: It’s a great new format. But all that being said, I know for us, there’s a difference—at this point right now, and things are rapidly changing everyday. If we go to a city that has Christian radio, there’s a difference than in the city which doesn’t have Christian radio, as far as the number of people there, the songs that they know. So, it’s still a viable thing, and I’m sure Jon Bon Jovi and Daughtry could tell you the same thing from their perspectives. It’s rapidly changing and it’s scary, but it’s exciting at the same time. It seems like the music business is dying, and yet music is doing fine.
Christian Music News Source
Mac Powell: Yeah, it was a little bit of a lot of different things. The main thing is that we’ve done this for a number of years now—I forget the count, this is either our ninth or tenth studio record, depending on what you consider a studio record—and there was this sense of urgency in me personally, and I think in the rest of the band, that we didn’t want it to be, "OK, there’s another Third Day record." I didn’t want that this time. I wanted it to be, "Wow, look at this Third day record." It needed to be a little different, it needed to be bigger and better.
HM: This is a very weird time in the music industry, by and large, and that has implications for the Christian music world. People are buying less CDs and downloading or sharing more. CCM Magazine is now only available online. The technology and the market and the generational shifts have everyone in a state of flux. As a result, what’s commonly called Contemporary Christian Music as a whole seems dominated by in-house focused worship product. Which means, the vision I grew up with—that Christians would make great, relevant and artful rock statements—has been pretty much abandoned. Instead of influencing the mainstream markets, we’ve carved out our own little ghetto niche, and are largely disregarded by the larger media forces of radio, etc. Where does all that leave Third Day?
Mac: For us, it’s always felt like, on the one hand we’re one of the main bands in Christian music, but on the other hand, sometimes you don’t feel like you belong at all. That being said, I’m very positive about our market. I love being a Christian band. To take what you said a step further, even if we went out and tried to be a mainstream band, and tried to not be a Christian band, we couldn’t pull that off. There’s too much music out there now, too much that’s been said. We can’t hide who Third Day is.
HM: Anybody with Google and some spare time can learn way too much about all of us. There’s no hiding or pretending to be something different than you are anymore.
Mac: But that doesn’t frustrate us; that actually makes us feel comfortable. To do something to sound cool or be different than that would finally sound silly. After 15 years, we know who we are. And in that, you’re still striving to do more and be better. Even musically there’s that balance—how do we play the music that’s who we are, and what we’re good at, and what our fans want to hear, and at the same time push it in a little different direction? There’s this constant balancing act, where hopefully you’re morphing a little bit—not too much, but enough to keep it interesting.
And then there’s the seasonal things, too. I can’t wait until we get to do another worship record, I’m very excited about that. However, on the flip side of that, we’re constantly trying to make music that’s going to go outside of our market as well.
HM: Do you even think that’s possible these days?
Mac: Yeah, absolutely. I think you make a quality product, and a great song is a great song. There are many examples from friends like P.O.D., Sixpence and Jars, that prove that if you have a great song, it can go beyond… But that’s not automatic. So many other things have to line up. There are many variables, but it is possible. So, that’s our hope. I don’t think we’ll, by any means, have a No. 1 hit on mainstream radio, or anything like that, but there’s mainstream stations today that are playing our music. We’re getting a song in a video game, and people are getting songs in movie soundtracks, so you can still have some mainstream accessibility without even having to go to radio.
HM: Radio seems pretty dead and repetitive; it’s probably over.
Mac: I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s not what it was.
HM: I know very few people who are listening to radio, who depend on it to supply their musical fix or to introduce them to new music. Those that are tuned in are listening to satellite, where the plethora of channel options mean you’ll be very unlikely to hear music or programming that doesn’t fit your established values, tastes and politics—which makes it more niche-y.
Mac: It’s a great new format. But all that being said, I know for us, there’s a difference—at this point right now, and things are rapidly changing everyday. If we go to a city that has Christian radio, there’s a difference than in the city which doesn’t have Christian radio, as far as the number of people there, the songs that they know. So, it’s still a viable thing, and I’m sure Jon Bon Jovi and Daughtry could tell you the same thing from their perspectives. It’s rapidly changing and it’s scary, but it’s exciting at the same time. It seems like the music business is dying, and yet music is doing fine.
Christian Music News Source
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