MUSIC : Third Day to make night of it

Third Day 7 p.m. Thursday, Church at Rock Creek, 11500 W. 36 th St., Little Rock Opening acts: Revive, NeedToBreathe Tickets: $ 25 advance, $

30 day of show; group rates available (800 ) 965-9324 or www. itickets. com Third Day has made central Arkansas a favorite tour stop during its

close to two decades together, and the contemporary Christian rock band is not averse to playing venues large, small and in between.

“We were in Alltel Arena a couple of years ago, with 4, 500 or 5, 000 fans there,” says Third Day bassist Tai Anderson. “This time we’re going for

a smaller production, more theaters and churches, and we know there are some big churches these days.

“ Half the battle of letting people know we’re coming through is cutting through the noise to let them know about it, and when something goes on in

these big churches, you can be sure a whole lot of people will be finding out about it real quick. When we first got our start, a concert was a big

deal, and now there’s so much more competition for people’s attention spans.” Such a revelation comes from a musician whose band is on tour to

promote its current CD, Revelation, released July 29.

In late February, the band released a statement announcing the departure of guitarist Brad Avery, who had been a member for 13 years and

played in more than 1, 000 concerts.

“It was an amicable decision for everyone,” Anderson says. “It was just kind of time for him to get off the road. He and his wife had had a recent

adoption.” The current album’s unusual cover artwork was inspired by an eccentric artist in the Salton Sea area of California. The artist, Leonard

Knight, created his Salvation Mountain monument out of discarded items.

“It’s a very strange area where folks tried to create a vacation area in the 1950 s, and it attracts some interesting characters,” Anderson says.

“Leonard takes trash and turns it into this statement of God’s love, and we were recording in California and saw a documentary about Salton Sea,

and looked into it, took photos there and then got the guys who did that documentary to do our first music video.” Third Day was formed in 1991 by

singer Mac Powell and guitarist Mark Lee, who were students in a high school near Marietta, Ga. A year later they heard another band playing at

Lee’s church and they invited the bassist, Anderson, and the drummer, David Carr, to join. Avery joined in 1995. The official lineup is now a

foursome; keyboardist Scotty Wilbanks is a hired hand who has toured with the band for three years. Of the band’s 13 albums, two have sold

more than a million copies and six have sold more than half a million copies.

Third Day has won three Grammy Awards and 22 Dove Awards since 1998.

Powell, who has a distinctive arena-size voice, gets co-billing with Brooks & Dunn on “Over the Next Hill,” which opens the soundtrack of Billy:

The Early Years, a recent film about the early life of evangelist Billy Graham. In 2002, the entire band appeared in a film, Joshua, and their song

“My Hope Is You” was featured on the movie’s soundtrack. In 2004, the band worked with Mel Gibson on the soundtrack of The Passion of The

Christ.

Chrisian Music News Source