CONSUMING
FIRE
WRITTEN BY MAC POWELL AND THIRD DAY
RECORDED BY THIRD DAY ON THIRD DAY (REUNION RECORDS, 1996)
PRODUCED BY DAVID MARDIS
1996 SELF-TITLED ALBUM DEBUTS AT #18 ON CHRISTIAN RETAIL, PEAKING AT #6
BILLBOARD VIDEO MUSIC AWARD—BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN NEW ARTIST VIDEO
1997 DOVE AWARD NOMINATION— NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Many times in musical circles, the fans’ favorite songs— which usually turn out to be the first single an artist releases and usually end up becoming huge success stories—aren’t always the artists’ favorite songs, especially M in terms of playing them live. And it’s not that these artists aren’t grateful for the mass approval. It’s just that sometimes there is a small annoyance factor of having to continue to play the same song night after night when the artist may be more excited about much newer material.
But for the Atlanta-based rockers Third Day, the artists and fans seem to be on the same page with “Consuming Fire.” According to its gravelly voiced front man Mac Powell, “People ask us all the time ‘What is your favorite Third Day song?’ And we always go back to ‘Consuming Fire.’ That was one of the very first ones, and I want to say it’s the quintessential Third Day song, because it combines a worship lyric with a rock sound.”
When Third Day debuted in 1996, they offered a diverse, Southern rock element that was a real departure from what was currently happening in Christian music. Their signature sound was the result of an eclectic mix of personalities and playing styles that was honed from years of playing together. “Consuming Fire” perfectly represents that fusion.
“There’s a really cool thing that happened with that song, and how it all came together,” Mac explains. “Mark [Lee] and I have been together since high school, playing music in garage bands and all kinds of things, and we started Third Day right after we graduated. We spent about a year playing acoustic stuff together, then a year later we added David [Carr] our drummer and Tai [Anderson] our bass player. They went to school and grew up together, so we had this one set of two friends and then this other set of two friends. It’s like the peanut butter and the chocolate combined...”
That recipe did indeed turn into something special. But unfortunately there still was one crucial ingredient missing—a louder guitar punch. “It was mostly an acoustic band, but we were missing this rock element we wanted to bring into it,” Powell recalls. “So we auditioned Brad Avery. The first song that he auditioned on was “Consuming Fire,” and from the very first harmonic note that he played, we just knew right away this is it, this is the band!”
“In case y’all don’t know that already, he got the job,” Lee chimes in with a laugh.
That easy camaraderie is one of the key elements that have made Third Day a fan favorite for many years. They also share a firm commitment to connecting with their audience, and have created a special online community for their fans, known affectionately as “Gomers.” The popularity of “Consuming Fire” may have set the tone for Third Day’s emergence as one of contemporary Christian music’s premier bands, but it is the spirit of its members that keeps them there.
