Third Day Biography

Third Day
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

For the Wisconsin musical group Gomers, see The Gomers. For the use of the Third day in the Bible, see Third day in the Bible.
Third Day

Third Day performing live at Hillsong Church, Sydney.
Background information
Origin Marietta, Georgia, USA
Genres CCM
Christian worship
Christian rock
Southern rock
Years active 1991 - Present
Labels Essential Records
Website http://www.thirdday.com/
Members
Mac Powell
Tai Anderson
David Carr
Mark Lee
Former members
Brad Avery
Billy Wilkins

Third Day is a CCM and Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee and former member Billy Wilkins1. The other band members are bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr. The band's name is a reference to the biblical account of Jesus rising from the dead on the third day following his Crucifixion. The band was inducted in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September 19, 2009.2

Contents

History

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.1 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 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.5

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. 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.6 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.7

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").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.1112 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 became 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 28, 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 April 2008 at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, NY. 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 Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 29, 2008 where they performed "Call My Name," the first single from Revelation. They also appeared on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on November 20, 2008, where they performed the new album's title track ("Revelation"). "Call My Name" hit #1 and was the 5th most-played song on R&R magazine's Christian CHR chart for 2008.16. Third Day was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame on September 19, 2009. They released Live Revelations, a live CD/DVD version of the Revelation album, in April.

In December 2009, Third Day was nominated for 3 Grammys: One for Best Rock/Rap album for Live Revelations and their single "Born Again" received 2 Grammy nods for Best Gospel Performance and Best Gospel Song. They won the Best Rock or Rap award, thus winning their fourth career Grammy.

Third Day's currently on tour on Winter Jam 2010, alongside Newsboys, Fireflight, Tenth Avenue North, and others. They recently revealed that they were heading back into the studio to record their next album, which is scheduled to be released sometime this year.

Members

Current

Past

Discography

Studio and live albums

Album Title Release Date Label Billboard 200 peak17 RIAA Certification
Third Day February 25, 1997 Reunion Records - Gold
Conspiracy No. 5 August 26, 1997 Reunion Records #50 ---
Time August 24, 1999 Essential Records #63 Gold
Offerings: A Worship Album July 11, 2000 Essential Records #66 Platinum
Come Together November 6, 2001 Essential Records #31 Gold
Offerings II: All I Have to Give March 4, 2003 Essential Records #18 Gold
Wire May 4, 2004 Essential Records #12 Gold
Live Wire November 23, 2004 Essential Records - Platinum
Wherever You Are November 1, 2005 Essential Records #8 Gold
Christmas Offerings October 17, 2006 Essential Records #78 ---
Chronology Volume 1 March 27, 2007 Essential Records #61 ---
Chronology Volume 2 August 7, 2007 Essential Records #73 ---
Revelation July 29, 2008 Essential Records #6 ---
Live Revelations April 25, 2009 Essential Records #145 ---

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.

Early Independent Albums

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

Music videos

Live DVDs

American Music Awards

Grammy Awards

Gospel Music Awards

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.18. The band members of Third Day are also Gomers themselves; Mac is "Mac Gomer", Mark is "Bedhead Gomer", Tai is "Big Bottom Gomer", and David is "Doyle Gomer".19

Notes

  1. ^ a b Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (1992)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/92.htm. 
  2. ^ Williams, Lindsay (2009-09-26). "Third Day Enters Georgia Hall of Fame". Weekend 22. http://www.weekend22.com/music.cfm?newsid=813. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
  3. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (1993)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/93.htm. 
  4. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (1994)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/94.htm. 
  5. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (1995)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/95.htm. 
  6. ^ BillboardThird Day. "Third Day Timeline (1997)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/97.htm. 
  7. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (1996)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/96.htm. 
  8. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (1997)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/97.htm. 
  9. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (1999)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/99.htm. 
  10. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (2000)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/00.htm. 
  11. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (2001)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/01.htm. 
  12. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (2002)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/02.htm. 
  13. ^ Third Day. "Third Day Timeline (2004)". http://www.thirdday.com/timeline/04.htm. 
  14. ^ 96five FM and 7News Tour Information
  15. ^ Billboard.com. "Billboard Third Day Chart History". http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=155250&model.vnuAlbumId=799210. 
  16. ^ The band also has two tracks on the soundtrack for the late 2008 release of the film "Fireproof." 2008 Year End Charts/Top Christian CHR songs, R&R magazine, Retrieved January 6, 2009
  17. ^ Billboard, Allmusic
  18. ^ A longer explanation of what the term Gomer means
  19. ^ A page explaining Gomers.

External links

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v • d • e
Third Day Discography
Studio and Live Albums
Extended Play
Early Independent Albums