3Doors Down
Awards 2000
Whenever a band seemingly springs from nowhere to become one of the hottest acts in America, one's natural inclination is to suspect hype. In the case of 3 Doors Down, however, the publicity machinery behind the group is richly deserved. Boasting a style that's neither gimmicky nor overtly fashionable, this Mississippi-based band has garnered praise for creating "traditional power rock" that could sit comfortably in eras both past and present. Moreover, the success of the group demonstrates that it isn't necessary to hail from a big city, in order to grab the attention of major-label record executives.
3 Doors Down's story begins in Escatawpa, Miss. (population 4,000), a cozy town located about 20 miles east of Biloxi. It was here that Matt Roberts (guitar), Todd Harrell (bass), Brad Arnold (singer-drummer), and Chris Henderson (guitar) grew up within a few miles of one another. In 1995, Roberts, Harrell, and Arnold formed a trio and began performing Bush, Metallica, and Stone Temple Pilots covers at local clubs. Indeed, Biloxi-based promoter Glenn Mattina has since commented that when he recruited the band for an outdoor show in the winter of 1995, its entire set consisted of 30 minutes of cover tunes.
Nonetheless, 3 Doors Down (which took its name from a dilapidated sign the band spotted in Foley, Ala.) impressed with its onstage charisma, and in the end, Mattina booked to the band to open shows for Creed, Sister Hazel, and Jonny Lang. Meanwhile, Arnold was attempting to write original material for the trio, and in fact, he claims to have penned 20 songs (including the lyrics to the future hit "Kryptonite") in algebra class during his senior year of high school. After recruiting second guitarist Chris Henderson (who'd been a football teammate of Harrell) in 1997, 3 Doors Down recorded a demo CD, which the band began selling at local gigs. The demo soon fell into the hands of a radio programmer at Biloxi station WCPR.
After being especially impressed with one track from the CD, the aforementioned "Kryptonite," WCPR's operations manager decided to feature the song on WCPR's "Homegrown" segment. After the song aired, requests for "Kryptonite" began pouring in, prompting the station to put the track into heavy rotation. A buzz began to swirl about 3 Doors Down, and before long, the group was playing to local crowds totaling upward of 2,000 people. Taking note of the stir that the band was creating in and around Biloxi ("Kryptonite" went straight to No. 1 on WCPR, and remained in that spot for roughly 25 weeks), record company executives came calling. One of the companies � Republic Records, a subsidiary of Universal � invited the group to perform at a showcase at legendary Manhattan, N.Y., club CBGB's.
The CBGB performance netted 3 Doors Down a record contract with Republic, and in short order, the band was scuttled to Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tenn., to begin work on its major-label debut. Up to this point, Arnold had been pulling double duty as drummer and singer (� la Phil Collins or Don Henley); however, as the recording sessions neared completion, it was decided that the group would be better served if Arnold put away his drum kit and assumed the role of frontman. To facilitate the move, Hattiesburg, Miss., native Richard Liles was later recruited as tour drummer.
Recording for the soon-to-be-titled debut, The Better Life, went quickly and smoothly. Working with Sister Hazel producer Paul Ebersold, 3 Doors Down essentially re-recorded half the songs from its original demo (including "Kryptonite") and fleshed out the remainder of the CD with more recently penned material (including "Not Enough," "Be Like This," and the title track). Moreover, in January of 2000, the band went to New Orleans to record three non-album tracks with Rush guitarist (and longtime idol of the group) Alex Lifeson. (Later, Lifeson would join the band onstage for a performance at the release party for The Better Life.) Titled "Dead Love," "Wasted Me," and "Dangerous Game," the Lifeson-produced tracks purportedly will appear as B-sides on future singles.
Upon its release in February of 2000, The Better Life at first generated little interest either in the press or among the public at large. Fueled in part, however, by 3 Doors Down's opening-act stints for Creed and Sevendust that spring, "Kryptonite" began receiving heavy airplay on alternative and rock stations, and in May, The Better Life reached No. 20 on Billboard's Top 200 chart. A tad belatedly, reviews and interviews began appearing in mainstream publications such as Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly, as critics responded warmly to the group's traditional rock sound. As of September 2000, The Better Life had sold more than 3 million copies.
The fall of 2000 finds 3 Doors Down continuing its road warrior ways. In September, the group concluded its first tour of Europe, which will be followed by a headlining tour of the United States (as well as an appearance on the Tonight Show). The group has also continued to do well on the charts. In late August, a second single from The Better Life, "Loser," inched its way to the top of Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart (the song also hit No. 2 on Billboard's Active Rock chart and No. 11 on the Modern Rock chart). Seemingly unfazed by the hoopla currently surrounding them, the members of 3 Doors Down continue to describe what they do in simple terms. "We've got good lyrics; everything tells a story," says Harrell. "It's a rock and roll band, straight up. It's not really alternative, or metal, or anything � it's rock and roll."
--Russell Hall
Category
20
Best Rock Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock & Metal
songs. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist
names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
On April 11th, 3 Doors Down won Favorite Group - New Artist at the 2001 Blockbuster Entertainment Award. 3DD beat out Baha Men and Papa Roach to take the award. Thanks to everyone who voted in the Blockbuster online poll
