Third Day

It was 1992, that Mac Powell and Mark Lee were playing at Lee’s church, fortunately the same night that David Carr and Tai Anderson played with a band called Bullard Family Singers. After being introduced, realising their mutual interests, the four musicians formed a band. In 1993, whilst still in school, the band started playing more frequently around Atlanta and saved $3000 to record a full-length studio album which would be called “Contagious”. 1000 CDs and cassette copies of the recording were released. While playing in Marietta, Georgia at the Strand Theatre, the owners offered the band a contract to sign with a new independent record label called Gray Dot Records. With a recording contract to their names, the band release the album entitled “Third Day” which sold 20,000 units. Reunion Records bought out their Grey Dot contract and signed the band to a multi-album deal.

In 1998, the band began to work on their next album called “Time” which was produced by Monroe Jones. This album went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award and won a Dove Award. Having entered the studio with so many songs, they decided to make an EP called “Southern Tracks”, with some of the songs that didn’t make the cut. In the band’s live show, they had a worship section.

They embarked on a tour with Jennifer Knapp, and that same year they collaborated on a project “City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise” along with FFH, Caedmon’s Call, Newsboy and Jars of Clay. Everything got bigger than they’d hoped, especially when they played in Australia and New Zealand in 2001. They held a concert at the Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre with an attendance of close to 15,000 people. That same year, the band won five Dove Awards as well as a Grammy. It was their following album that same year that the band released their 5th studio album “Come Together”, released on November 6th 2001, which won two Dove Awards and one more Grammy.

Their album “Wherever You Are” debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 8 and also earned the band their third Grammy award. They were also inducted into the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame on September 19th 2009. Their following studio album “Miracle” was released on November 6th 2012. It charted at #10 on the Billboard 200 chart, following the release, they embarked on a tour that started on February 21st 2013, in Fairfax Virginia, and ended on May 19th 2014 in Orlando, Florida.

Born in West Virginia, Smith developed his interest in music through his interaction with the church, learning piano and singing in the choir at an early age. After a 'spiritual experience' at the age of ten, he became a devout Christian, becoming heavily involved with bible study groups.

Developing his songwriting skills during his time at High School and College, Smith decided to move to Nashville in order to pursue a career in music, gaining support from his friend Shane Keister, who was an established session musician there.

In 1981, he signed to Meadowgreen Music, writing gospel hits and worship songs for various artists. After performing as the opening act for Amy Grant, he signed to Reunion Records to release his debut album, titled "The Michael W. Smith Project" in 1983. The album brought him huge success, including a Grammy nomination.

In 1990, Smith achieved a crossover success with the single, "Place in This World," from the album, "Go West Young Man," which peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1992, he went even further and managed a number one hit with "Change Your World." His success continued with his following releases, creating 22 albums by 2014.

Smith also created an entirely instrumental album, titled "Freedom," released in 2000, featuring a vary of instrumentalists to create its epic sound. Following this, he moved towards christian worship music with his two albums "Worship" and "Worship Again" in 2001 and 2002. Smith wrote a song inspired by the September 11, 2001 attacks, titled "There She Stands" at the request of then president George W. Bush. He has also released four Christmas albums, reinterpreting the traditional Christmas songbook with his own inimitable style.

Michael W. Smith is definitely one of the biggest names on the American Christian music scene and his success has been awarded with several awards throughout his career. He has achieved three Grammy Awards for Best Gospel Performance in 1984, Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 1995 and Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 2002. As well as the Grammys, he has won a whole host of awards from the Dove Awards and the American Music Awards.