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Mac Powell knew he was just shaking things up. Even during the recording of Third Day’s previous album, Lead Us Back (buy), the front man knew the Southern rockers would return to their roots. They just needed to keep things interesting—for you, too.

Fresh off of some sonic experimentation, Third Day was hungry to get back to the sweet Southern sounds that catapulted them onto the charts two decades prior. Now a three-piece, Powell says they fulfilled a lifelong dream by recording at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama—home of previous recordings by Otis Redding and Etta James, Duane Allman and Wilson Pickett.

Recording close to home with a familiar face in producer Monroe Jones brought about a Revival (August 4, 2017, Provident Label Group/Sony Musicbuy) for the band, a gospel-centric record steeped in the classic Third Day sound. The result is a “very fulfilling record” for Powell that feels and sounds like home. Fans will think so, too.

CCM Magazine: Your last album was such a departure from the time-tested Third Day sound. It’s interesting to us now that you’re hearkening back to your first couple of releases. Is that a result of changing things up as you have?
Mac Powell: Yeah, I’m so glad we did that. That’s what we needed to do at the time. I think every once in a while you have to shake it up and do something different. We needed that as a band to keep things interesting and also for our fans to stay interested.

When you’ve been around for a long time it’s difficult to find that balance. You have a sound that people love, and that’s why they’re fans. But if you do that same thing over and over, people will get tired of it. Every once in a while, you have to say, “We’re going to do something different here for everybody’s good.” I think that’s what Lead Us Back was. I’m very, very proud of that record, but Revival is definitely who we are.

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