Third Day

Third Day

Third Day

KNOXVILLE — Third Day lead singer Mac Powell remembers when his band's first album came out in 1996 he noticed that Petra, one of the pioneering contemporary Christian rock bands, was celebrating 20 years of being a group:

"I remember praying then, 'Please, Lord, don't let us be a band in 20 years. There's no way I want to do this for that long!' Now 20 years is just around the corner and I'm praying the opposite. 'Please, Lord, give us a few more years!'"

Powell laughs.

Third Day is now in its 17th year as a musical entity. Formed in Marietta, Ga., when the members were students in high school and college, Third Day began gaining traction in 1996 when the group released its self-titled album on Reunion Records and song "Nothing At All" became a minor rock hit. The group has since earned 24 Dove Awards and three Grammys.

The band's Southern rock sound was initially compared to then-popular middle of the road rockers Hootie and the Blowfish. However at that time Third Day was one of the hardest rock acts to grace contemporary Christian radio.

"Now people are more open to rock-oriented sounds and we're very much middle of the road," says Powell, though he notes there are far fewer middle of the road artists now than there were when the group started.

"Worship music has gotten so much bigger and it's sort of polarized music," he says. "It's either worship or harder rock."

There was a time that record companies encouraged contemporary Christian artists to downplay the message in their music. Now it seems to be the opposite.

"Record companies are smart," he says. "They know that people buy this music because they want to hear a message. If you try to change things in a way that makes it a little bit more accessible to people outside market they don't want that. They want it very direct. There are seasons we want that, but there are times we want something that will reach people outside of the church walls."

The band's most recent studio album, "Revelation," would be an example of the latter. The disc includes guest appearances by Chris Daughtry, Flyleaf lead singer Lacey Mosley and Robert Randolph and the Family Band. In addition, it was produced by pop/rock producer Howard Benson.

"Howard is not a Christian," says Powell. "He would really stretch us. He'd say, 'I don't believe you. ... It has to convince me!'"

Powell says that regardless of the message, the music has to be good.

"I've heard artists say, 'We're not here to entertain you, we're here to share our faith with you.' But if you're not there to entertain them, why are you playing music in the first place?"

Powell feels good that Third Day has gotten better at both entertaining on stage and at creating music in the studio.

"Once you've been around for a few years you figure a few things out," says Powell. "Success breeds success and the success we've had has allowed us to spend a little more money making records and more time making records and to work with talented people. And, if you're any good at all, I think you get better at what you're doing."

And while at one time Powell couldn't imagine staying in music for two decades, he's never seriously considered giving it up.

"I'm happier now than I've ever been. We used to say, 'You can't do this forever,' but a lot of bands do ... Even though we've been doing this for 17 years, I really feel like we're just getting started."

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!

© 2009 Knoxville.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.