To Krypton and Back

by Jeri Lynn Ostrander
April 30, 2008

3 Doors Down guitarist Chris Henderson knew the band had made it big the day he walked into his youngest son’s school. “Instantly the entire school stopped,” he says. “Class was over!”

Emerging from small-town Mississippi, 3 Doors Down burst onto the post-grunge alternative-rock scene in 2000 with hit single “Kryptonite” from the band’s first album “A Better Life.” The band has sold more than 13 million albums in the U.S. alone with “A Better Life” going platinum 6 times.

Henderson, along with lead vocalist Brad Arnold, bass guitarist Todd Harrell and lead guitarist Matt Roberts grew up in Escatawpa, a Gulf-Coast town of about 3,000 people just outside of Biloxi. Originally in two separate bands, 3 Doors Down formed in the mid-’90s when one of the bands broke up. “We were the only musicians in town so we just gravitated toward each other and hung out and went to each other’s shows” Henderson says.

Initially the band drew inspiration from southern-rock band Lynard Skynard and by Led Zeppelin. But more than from individual bands, their inspiration came from metal, country and Texas blues. While spending time in Alabama during the bands’ earlier days when there were only three members, Harrell saw the side of a building with the words “Doors Down” staring back. Harrell said to Arnold and Roberts, “How ‘bout ‘3 Doors Down’?”

Their second album, “Away from the Sun,” which reached platinum status 4 times, was released in 2002, and produced two hit singles: “Here Without You” and “When I’m Gone.” In 2003, they released the live EP “Another 700 Miles,” which went gold in the U.S. The year 2005 proved to be eventful for the group, when they released Platinum ranking album “Seventeen Days” and added drummer Greg Upchurch from Puddle of Mud to the band.

Then, in late August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made her wrathful presence known, destroying much of the band’s hometown community. Since 2003, 3 Doors Down has performed benefit concerts to help people in need through their charity organization, A Better Life Foundation. Since 2006, the concert proceeds have gone to help Hurricane Katrina survivors re-establish their homes and communities along the Coast.

The band recently launched their 2008 tour, promoting its upcoming self-titled album. According to its Web site, “It’s Not My Time,” the album’s debut single, was the No. 1 most added song on Alternative Radio and scored as “greatest gainer” three weeks in a row on the coveted Rock Radio format.

Recently, the track jumped from No. 20 to No. 16 while closing in on the prestigious 50,000 mark in digital sales after less than a month of release.

What makes this album different is the freedom the band had while writing the music. 3 Doors Down settled for the winter just outside Nashville, where they lived off the land, chopped their own wood and used a wood-burning stove. “We got back to what we came from, and it allowed the music to grow and develop organically,” Henderson said.

The band writes all its own songs, and each member contributes. “There is not just one guy driving this band. We are definitely a collective effort, and each of us brought massive amounts of ourselves to the table,” Henderson said. Because so much of each member went into creating this album, the band decided to name the new album after the band.

Henderson’s advice for other Mississippi bands trying to make it big? “Think outside the box. Think big, and you will be big. Act like a touring act. Learn the craft of song writing. It’s all about the song. Pay attention to your music. Go see big bands, watch what they do, then do what they do. That’s what it’s about.”

One factor contributing to the band’s success is that the members are from the same little town and have the same mindset; however, understanding that each member is an individual “keeps it real and keeps it new,” Henderson says. “We know everything there is to know about each other. There are no secrets here.”

Look for the release of the new album “3 Doors Down” on May 20. See the band perform live, Saturday, May 3, at the Miller-Lite Crawfish Boil at the Mississippi Coliseum Fairgrounds. Ticket info at http://www.millerlitecrawfishboil.com.

 
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