3 Doors Down will rock the Concert Cove

Mississippi rockers 3 Doors Down will perform Saturday at the Stir Cove's Summer Concert Series at Harrah's Casino in Council Bluffs.

3 Doors Down has sold more than 16 million albums since their debut, “The Better Life,” in 2000. Singles such as “Kryptonite,” “Be Like That” and “Here Without You” have topped the charts.

We recently spoke with bassist Todd Harrell about their upcoming show. Here's what he had to say:

Q.Where have you been traveling to?

A. Well, we've been in the north a bit. We played a few shows with Aerosmith now we're in Minnesota tonight and we're heading over to where you guys are in a couple of days.

Q. How was Aerosmith?

A. It was off the chain. It was cool. Them guys rock. They really do.

Q. Why do you say that?

A. They just do. They've just got it. Where ever it is they've got it. It's a good show. They have so much production it takes like two or three days to get it all done. They only do three shows a week. You can only do that when the stage is that dang big.

Q. What does their set look like?

A. It's huge. It looks like something out of the ‘70s.

Q. Did you hang out with them?

A. Nah, they kind of did their own thing. We just did a couple of shows and got out. We really didn't hang around them.

Q. How were the fans?

A. They were awesome. You couldn't ask for some better fans, man.

Q. Tell me about some of the projects you're working on?

A. We're just touring right now. We're getting ready to come of the road. We're going to play a few dates in the summer. But we're getting ready to write another record. Hopefully, by the end of the summer we'll be wrapping that up. And just keep having a good time.

Q. Which direction are you guys moving toward with your music?

A. I think we're just going to keep it the way we've been doing it. If it don't seem to be broke, don't fix it.

Q. After you released “Kryptonite,” it was like you had instant stardom. How'd you handle it?

A. It was a whirlwind, crazy. But there were a lot of good times. A lot of long crazy nights.

Q. Are you going to explain?

A. No. No I'm not. I just think we're fortunate to be here and we've got the greatest fans. I don't know what making it is? We've had a lot of success but we're just glad to be here.

Q. What were you doing before 3 Doors Down?

A. Trying to make it. We played in bands since we were all in high school. We've been playing music for a while. That's about all we know how to do.

Q. Why do you think this band worked out?

A. We're just a bunch of good guys. The chemistry is good. We write good songs and it comes across so great. Every one in the band is a good player. We let our music speak for ourselves and we don't try to put a lot of imagery out there. We're not flashy or nothing.

Q. How did the song “Citizen Soldier” come to be?

A. The guard actually came to us and asked us to write a song. Brad got with one of the coloneland they started talking. The colonel kept referring the men to him as citizen soldiers so Brad took that and put it into the lyrics. We always had the music for the song. Brad just changed up the words, made it fit and put it out there. That song did pretty good for us. People in the guard now come out and say how much they appreciate the song.

Q. I read in your bio that the recording process was an intense period of growth and soul searching. Would you say that's accurate?

A. Yeah, it's like the last record. We wrote the record a little bit at a time. We just get in there and close our selves off to every body and try to write songs that people can relate to.

Q. What is the state of rock ‘n roll right now?

A. It's good. It's still out there. It's banging. It went through some lows in my 10 years of doing it but there's definitely good music out there you've just got to find it.

Q. Tell me about The Better Life Foundation the group started?

A. We originally started it as a foundation for people back home. We did it for kids to get their school books and women's shelters. It just turned into this thing that grew. We do a concert at the end of the year and it goes to places back home like the Hurricane Relief. We've done that for the last two or three years. We've just been sending things down to the coast because that place was really messed up after the hurricane hit. We've just been putting our efforts to good causes.

Q. So what should our fans expect?

A. A good time. They're probably going to know every song word for word because they always play us on the radio. So expect a lot of energy and a lot of fun.