Third Day Honored at ASCAP Christian Music Awards

ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) will honor Third Day at its 33rd Annual Christian Music Awards, taking place March 28, 2011 at Richland Country Club in Nashville, Tenn. The Atlanta quartet will be presented with ASCAP's Vanguard Award in recognition of its extraordinary impact on Christian music.

The invitation-only event salutes the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP's most performed Christian songs, with top awards being presented to the Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year, Songwriter/Artist of the Year and Publisher of the Year. Confirmed to perform at this year's awards are some of ASCAP's Christian Award-winning songwriter/artists, including Brandon Heath and Chris August.

Third Day is the first recipient of the ASCAP Vanguard Award in the Christian music genre. Past ASCAP Vanguard Award honorees include The Killers, Sara Bareilles, Santigold, All-American Rejects, Arcade Fire, The Mars Volta, Jack Johnson, The Strokes, Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Beck and Bjork.

Over the past decade, the Atlanta-based, multi-Platinum rock band Third Day (made up of members Mac Powell, Tai Anderson, David Carr and Mark Lee) has racked up an astounding 58 ASCAP Most Performed Song awards in addition to the 2003 ASCAP Christian Song of the Year for "Show Me Your Glory," 27 No. 1 radio singles and sold more than 7.5 million albums which reflect an impressive 2 RIAA Platinum and 8 Gold Certifications. A recent Georgia Music Hall of Fame inductee (2009), Third Day has garnered 24 career GMA Dove Awards from 47 nominations, 4 GRAMMY Awards (with 11 career nominations) and an American Music Award (with 3 American Music Award nominations). Third Day has been featured by many top media outlets and even graced the cover of Billboard magazine, which called Third Day "one of the best rock bands." As a top-ranked touring band, according to Pollstar magazine, Third Day has played for audiences reaching into the millions. The band's eponymous debut bowed in 1996, with Conspiracy No. 5 appearing a year later. In 1999 Third Day returned with Time, and the next year Offerings, a collection of new and live material, came out, followed by Come Together in 2001 and Offerings II: All I Have to Give in 2003. That same year, the American Music Awards tapped the band with a nomination in the Favorite Contemporary Inspirational Artist category. For the fifth studio album, 2004's Wire (which was followed shortly after by Live Wire), Third Day returned to its rock 'n' roll roots, a trend they kept up for 2005's Top Ten hit Wherever You Are. The band released a holiday album Christmas Offerings in 2006 and the compilations Chronology Volume 1 and Chronology Volume 2-a look at the first decade of the band's career-the following year. In 2008 Third Day unveiled Revelation, which featured appearances by Chris Daughtry and Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley. A Grammy-winning CD/DVD documentary, Live Revelations, chronicling the Third Day live concert experience with behind-the-scenes moments followed in 2009. The band's 2010 release, Move, is nominated for a 2011 GMA Dove Award in the category of Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year. Third Day is on the road in the U.S. through the spring with its "Make Your Move" Tour.