1991
Mac Powell and Mark Lee started Third Day at the end of their senior years at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. They had played music together in a garage band called Nuclear Hoedown. Both Mark and Mac wanted to be part of a band that played songs about their faith in God. Mac and Mark added a keyboard player named Billy Wilkens. Over the next year, Third Day wrote songs and performed a few shows around Cobb County.
1992
In 1992, Mac and Mark were performing a concert at Mark's church, Hollydale Methodist in Powder Springs, Georgia. David Carr (17, drums) and Tai Anderson (16, bass) were playing with an opening act called the Bullard Family Singers. David and Tai's youth director, Mark Manuel, asked Third Day to play for his youth group. For payment, David would record a demo for Third Day in his basement. David, Mac and Mark hit it off immediately and began rough demo recordings. When it was time for some bass, David called up Tai to come and play. That day, Billy Wilkin's sister was taking pictures for a press shot of the band. Tai jumped in the pictures and never left the band.
1993
Third Day began playing full concerts around metro Atlanta. Over the next year, the band was able to save $3,000 to record a full length recording. Third Day never played a show outside of Georgia in 1993 and never sent any promotional materials to any record companies. Everyone in the band was a student, Mac and Mark in college and David and Tai in high school. Billy was a school teacher but left the band in 1993.
1994
Third Day�s first full length recording was called Contagious. The album was recorded for about $3,000 in Furies Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Every member of Third Day was a student at the time of this recording. (spring 1994) In fact, Tai was still in high school. Many of the tracks from Contagious were present on our first national release Third Day. Some of the songs that were only on this record were Blues Song, Simply Amazin�, and Faith, Hope, and Love. Only 1000 cds and 1000 cassettes were ever manufactured for this independent recording. Copies of Contagious have auctioned for as high as $300 on ebay. The album cover was a picture of Tai�s older brother playing in the mud.
1995
In 1995, Third Day felt they needed one more addition to the group to really complete the Third Day sound. The guys had seen Brad play with another singer/songwriter around town named Chris Carter. Everyone was impressed with his playing, gear, and hair. So the guys asked Brad to join the group. Brad was hesitant at first as Third Day still only occaisonally played in tune. At the first rehearsal, Third Day played the song Consuming Fire. Everyone immediately knew that Brad was the right man for the band. Third Day had found its sound.
During 1995, Third Day continued to play numerous concerts and even began to play around the southeast. Third Day was starting to get paid more frequently with the help of Jeff Gregg who signed on to be Third Day�s booking agent. The band saw concert attendances rise, especially in Atlanta at a venue called the Strand Theatre. The management at The Strand decided to sign Third Day to a new independent record company called Gray Dot Records.
In the sping of 1995, Gray Dot Records signed Third Day to a one album deal. They took the tracks from Contagious and added the songs Consuming Fire and Nothing at All.
1996
In 1996, Reunion Records signed Third Day to a multi-album record contract. They immediately released Third Day. The record immediately became a best seller and has sold over 300,000 records to date. Third Day was playing shows extensively and making tons of new fans. The record was received to moderate reviews. Critics praised the authentic southern sound, but were quick to compare Third Day to a band composed of an owl and some sealife who were extremely popular at the time. Third Day had its first mainstage performance at a major festival at the Alive Festival that summer.
In the summer of �96, the Newsboys asked Third Day to open about 5 shows on the west coast. Third Day saw its largest audiences yet and made a lot of new fans.
Third Day also embarked on a 65 city headline tour in the fall of 1996. The tour was a great success. All Star United and a band called Seven Day Jesus opened for the tour.
Third Day was nominated for new Artist of the Year by the Gospel Music Association. Also our video for Consuming Fire won a Billboard award for best Christian video.
Over 20,000 Gray Dot records were sold which was actually very substantial for an independent record company. Shortly after the album�s release, Reunion Records signed Third Day to a multi-album deal which included the masters from the Gray Dot record. The album is no longer in production but is often auctioned for less than $20 on Ebay.
1997
In the winter of 1997, Third Day went into the studio for its first real recording, Conspiracy No.5. �We were anxious to show the world how much we had improved since our first record which was compiled over the band�s first few years together.�
Third Day worked with producer, Sam Taylor who had worked on many of Kings X�s records. Sam really challenged Third Day to stretch individually on their instruments.
The title Conspiracy no. 5 came from a lot of sources. �We had been reading a lot of books that talked about Conspiracy theories, especially with JFK�s assasination.� Also we found the no. 5 compelling for several reasons....
Also, Mark, the band historian, was browsing the local library and came across a definition for conspiracy. The 5th definition read basically a conspiracy was when two more people worked together for a common cause. We found the definition a compelling parallel to what we did in the band. We also saw our touring as a chance to conspire with our fans for the common beliefs of our faith.
Before the album released in August of �97, Third Day embarked on a 45 city tour opening for the Newsboys. The tour was incredibly succesful. Third Day played for over 3,000 people a night.
Conspiracy No.5 was nominated for a grammy.
Third Day won dove awards for rock song of the year for Alien and Rock Album of the Year.
1998
In 1998, Third Day was a working band on the road. We did a spring leg of the Conspiracy tour, a full summer schedule, and we opened up for a 65 city tour for the newsboys in the fall.
We didn�t do any recording in 1998 except for one song for a project called Exodus. The song was a cover of a Michael W. Smith song called Angus Dei. The song quickly became a fan favorite and a live staple.
The project Exodus won a dove award for special event album of the year.
1999
In 1999, Third Day returned to the studio to record the album Time. Monroe Jones produced the record for the band. After a solid 18 months of touring, we had a ton of song ideas to record. In fact we had over 30 songs to choose from.
With Conspiracy No. 5, we were really setting out to prove something. With Time, we just tried to be ourselves. This was probably the biggest turning points in our carreer. Some of the extra songs from this project our on an ep called Southern Tracks which is sometimes auctioned on ebay.
The album was hailed by critics as a defining work for the band. The song, I�ve Always Loved you was the band�s first no.1 AC song. The song and album made us a lot of new fans. But more than that, it sustained our current fans.
During our concerts, the worship part of our shows was becoming more and more powerful. The band decided to start recording its shows to capture these moments.
Time was nominated for a grammy and received a dove award for rock album of the year.
2000
In the winter of 2000, we returned to the studio with Monroe Jones to make a record called Offerings. Offerings was recorded in about a week in the same studio we had recorded Time called Southern Tracks.
We wanted to make a record that captured the power of the worshipful aspects of our concerts. Also, we wanted to make a worship record with original, unique material. We fully expected the record to sell half of what a normal Third Day record would.
After making the record, we set out on tour with Jennifer Knapp for a 50 city tour. The tour was a huge success. We were now experiencing a consistent audience of over 2500 people a night.
Third Day also particapated on a project called City on a Hill. We recorded a song for the record and Mac sang on a song called God of Wonders. Offerings was released in July with barely a whisper. However, our fans bought the record. Than, they told their friends and so on. By the time we returned to the studio in the fall, Offerings was doing great and people were talking.
In the fall, we began working on our next studio release called Come Together. We literally built a studio with Producer Monroe Jones and began working on a new record. Powerfully affected by the view of unity we had seen from stage over the last year, we wanted to challenge our fans to draw closer together.
2001
As 2001 began, Offerings was flying off the shelves. The band headed to Australia and New Zealand for a few festival shows. There, we learned that we had been nominated for a slew of dove awards. People were discovering what Third Day was all about.
We decided to follow up a small market fall tour we had done with a full-blown Offerings tour for the Spring. We saw huge numbers and experienced powerful nights of worship.
We captured one of these evenings on a DVD called the Offerings Experience. The show was an incredible homecoming for the band in Atlanta. 15,000 people showed up for a night of worship at the Hi-Fi Buys Ampitheatre and we got it on film. The DVd is Christian Music�s first interactive, full-functioned dvd.
When the Dove Awards came around, we were recognized for/as.
After the Dove Awards, Offerings continued to sell well as we continued to do shows at major summer festivals throughout the country.
In November, Third Day released its 5th major release Called Come Together. The story isn�t written yet. But the Album is selling twice as quickly as any previous Third Day record.
At the end of the year, the album had already sold over 200,000 records. Also, at years� end, Third Day held the No. 1 spots on Rock, CHR, and AC radio charts.
2002
2002 promises to be Third Day's best year ever. Come Together is selling very well. In fact, it selling over twice as fast of any of our previous records. We�re hitting the road this spring for a 53 city U.S. tour. We will be doing our biggest show yet.
*Found at ThirdDay.com.*