INTERVIEW: 3 Doors Down celebrate ‘Away From the Sun’ this summer
Photo: 3 Doors Down are currently on touring celebrating the 20th anniversary of Away From the Sun. Photo courtesy of David “Doc” Abbott / Provided by U Music with permission.
3 Doors Down are right now amidst an expansive tour in the United States, playing outdoor amphitheaters with an impressive opening act: Candlebox, on their farewell tour. They are set to rock Bridgeport, Connecticut, on Saturday, July 1 when they play the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater.
For 3 Doors Down, the band behind such hit songs as “Kryptonite,” “When I’m Gone” and “Here Without You,” the year 2023 is a special one. They have dedicated this summer as a 20th anniversary tribute to their highly successful album Away From the Sun, which was released in 2002. That sophomore effort from the rock band featured several hit songs and cemented the status of 3 Doors Down as one of the most successful rock outfits in the early 2000s.
Chris Henderson, guitarist for the band, has been with the group for nearly its entire history, and he summed up this current summer tour in a few words: “Having a lot of fun.”
Henderson said he still gets a bit nervous before a tour kicks off. In fact, even several weeks into a tour he gets a bit nervousness. “That never really goes away,” he said. But the excitement is there as well, especially for the chance to play the entire album Away From the Sun.
“It’s the first record that broke as professional musicians,” Henderson said. “Because we were writing The Better Life [the first album] doing bars and sometimes free shows in a backyard or stuff like that. Definitely weren’t paying taxes, but [then] … we had to start writing songs for being on the road, songs for being out as career musicians, or at least try. It’s a little bit different, a lot of pressure. I don’t know. We rose to the occasion. We didn’t just go into a rehearsal space and pump out 12 songs and a hidden track. It was a process, man. Good days and bad days, but it was every day.”
Henderson said the creativity needed for recording an album is different than the creativity needed for a live performance in front of thousands of screaming fans.
“When you’ve been doing it as long as we’ve been doing it, you eventually develop certain quirks and things like that you do every night without thinking about it,” he said. “This is a 30-year-old career. The band has been around for a pretty long time, and we’ve had fans for a really long time. … You could have a couple generations of kids [in the audience]. You look out, and you see all ages. You see moms, dads, grandparents, whole families now. It’s really cool. Our music is what it is, but our stage show, I’ve never heard [lead singer] Brad [Arnold] stay a cuss word in my 28 years I’ve been there, not on stage anyways, you know what I’m saying. I think that’s kind of cool, man.”
Henderson started playing guitar when he was 6 years old, and he continued until he was about 13. He picked up the instrument again in his late teenage years after joining the United States Navy. He remembers his time in the service, not having anyone telling him he couldn’t play music or do this or do that.
“I practiced a pretty good bit when I was in the military,” he said.
And as far as playing the same songs each night, including the radio hits, Henderson has no problem whatsoever: “That’s the reason we’re here because of those songs. I really don’t get tired of it. I don’t get tired of playing any song that the crowd likes. If a crowd don’t like a song, that’s when I don’t want to play it. Thank goodness, we don’t have many of those.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
3 Doors Down and Candlebox are currently on tour across the United States. They will play Saturday, July 1 at the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Click here for more information and tickets.
