Sad News For Third Day Fans :(

Brad Avery has left the band for reasons kept to himself. They are now saying that they'll continue as a quartet and not replace him.
Too bad, he had great style, tone and made the best faces in the business.

-Yeah, I read about this last week. I'm a huge Third Day fan and the band I was in played T.D. tunes in between our originals. One thing I liked about Brad was he pretty much used Epi's. Just goes to show you that you don't need to spend $$$$$$$ to get a good sound. And I always loved that wall of Epi Galaxy amps he used on the Wire tour.

http://www.epiphone.com/images/brad6.jpg

L8R,
Matt D.

Hate to see this. Third Day is my favorite Christian group. I always thought of Brad as the rocker and Mark lee as the u2/country style player.

Hate to see this. Third Day is my favorite Christian group. I always thought of Brad as the rocker and Mark lee as the u2/country style player.
Good assessment. I've seen 3D many times, most recently from the front, 2nd and 3rd rows right in front of Brad. I attended a meet and greet at this year's Christmas show along with Jars of Clay. Third Day are a bunch of regular guys, as are Jars. Brad stands out a little- more of a flashier personality and dresser. Maybe his calling lost it's focus a little. I know they just adopted a little girl from China too, so he probably was feeling obligations at home.
Not a huge lead player, but his fills and textures really impress me. He will be sorely missed.

That band's been around a LONG time, for a Christian band or otherwise. He started playing with them when he was 17 or something, right? Maybe even before that? That's a good chunk of your life and sometimes you need a change. I've seen them a couple times, the first being with the Newsboys and Plankeye when they were supporting their first disc. Those boys were YOUNG!! There were a lot of great bands that were around at that time that have gone many different ways since then, from merely disintegrating to finding other callings (The Waiting, Big Tent Revival, PfR). So I can't be surprised to see one of them want to go a different way after, what, nine or ten years. After more than a dozen years one of my other favorite bands Delirious just lost their drummer to the desire to put the road behind him. The road ain't an easy place for anyone to survive with their soul intact, let alone a Christian trying to hold themself to an even higher standard. Having a child at home now can surely make a difference and lead someone to want to leave the road behind them.

Sad to see him go. But we got a lot of good recordings to reflect back on!

I saw their "Behind the Music" story on GMTV and Brad really was the missing element that gave them their sound. They knew when he played lead on "Consuming Fire" when he auditioned. These guys are among the best Christian rockers on the planet. I should know, I've been listening to CCM since Larry Norman (God rest his soul) and Stonehill were YOUNG!

Just got wind of this happening and I was sad to hear. Just became a fan this year and got Chronology 2001-'06 the other week. Enjoying the videos and in particular pointing out Brad's facial expressions during solos to my young sons. They know all kinds of secular music through me (I am pretty careful with the few Boston, Van Halen and Kiss tunes I've let them hear) and I want them to see how God can use that desire to "rock out" for His glory. They have been really watching Brad in these videos since he does have that certain flash element (he does come across as a sincere man of God in the interviews I've seen though). My wife and I watched the video on the history of the band and all they went through getting Brad and how the band went to a new level with him.

I know the Lord has called vital members of our church family into new ministries before so I'll trust that is what is taking place. None of us particularly like change but as I've seen in my walk (some days it's a "crawl") it is necessary to advance His kingdom.

Prayers and blessings to Brad and his family and we look forward to seeing what God has in store for you next.

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Brad was one of the major highlights in that band, imo. That boy could rock! He will be missed and I would not pay to see TD without him in the line-up.

I may be wrong but....I don't see how they're going to be able to continue as strong as they were without Brad's guitar work. I've heard people over at the Third Day boards say that the band rocks just as much without Brad and that Mark is doin' a great job of taking up the slack but....I dare say that this is the beginning of the end for Third Day unless they hire a second guitarist. I know Mac plays rhythm guitar but....without that second lead guitar it just doesn't seem like it'll be the same....and hearing Brad on the new CD and not seeing him up there with them is gonna be weird.....

Respectfully, Brad to me is not the draw. The strength of the songs and the uniqueness of Mac's voice is the main ingredient. Brad added a harder edge to the band but I never saw him as a critical ingredient. After watching the live videos and band interaction I can see he was the "fifth wheel" - the four original guys seem to be really close with one another and he is usually on the outside it appears. That fact may have just come to a head. Who knows. These guys got together so young. Growing older means changing interests and directions.

Brad is a great talent though and I'd love to see him come out with an edgier Christian band. Kevin Max on lead vocals? All those poor Christian ladies being put to the test. :wink:

I have a lot of respect for guys like Brad and Kevin Max - they have the looks and talent that pretty much guarantee commercial success in the secular market but they've stuck to their convictions despite the temptations.

A dc talk reunion would be pretty massive. Those guys would see paydays rivaling any reunion of a popular 90's secular group (Stone Temple comes to mind). Kevin Max says he is not interested in playing music just for the sake of reuniting and playing music. I really respect that as much as I'd love to see them reunite.

Sorry to go OT guys! :oops: