Avery Millard Powers III (born December 24, 1965 in North Carolina) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and grammy nominated recording engineer.

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Early History

Powers studied piano for six years, and played trumpet in his middle school and high school bands for five years.

He went on to study Guitar Performance and Communications at University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Majosha

Majosha was a band formed around early 1988 with Ben Folds on bass, Powers on guitar, and Dave Rich on drums. They released a four song EP, Party All Night: Five Songs About Jesus, none of which were about Jesus. After gaining some popularity, they released their first album, Shut Up and Listen to Majosha in 1989.

The Semantics

The Semantics, a power-pop band formed by Millard Powers and Will Owsley, featured Jody Spence and Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey. Ben Folds appeared on drums on two demos which were not released and on keyboard at a few live performances. Folds was not involved with the creative aspects of the group. The band was signed to Geffen Records, and their album Powerbill was released in Japan in 1993.

Solo Album

Powers released a self-titled solo album in 2001. Powers played all instruments (bass, guitar, drums, keyboard), recorded, produced, mixed, and engineered the album himself in his apartment in Nashville, Tennessee. No other artists were featured on the album.

Track Listing

Pamela (4:28)

One More Step (3:34)

Jerry Deacon (2:26)

Gone (2:49)

She's So Clean (2:26)

Heart Attack (2:55)

Simple Thing (3:04)

Jenny Won't Play Fair (2:19)

Vegas (4:12)

Production and Engineering

Powers was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album in 1999 for his work on the album Owsley by Will Owsley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist.

Touring

He has played with acts such as Counting Crows, Keith Urban, Amy Grant, Ben Folds, Holly Williams, Cyndi Thomson, Greta Gaines, Anita Cochran, and Butterfly Boucher.

Counting Crows

Powers joined Counting Crows for his first show April 22, 2005, in Denver, CO. He plays bass guitar, upright double bass, piano, and performs live vocals. He has since recorded two albums with the group, one studio album and one live album.

Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings

Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings was released March 25, 2008. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on iTunes. This is the fifth studio album by Counting Crows. It is thematically divided into two sides: the rock music of Saturday Nights and the more country-influenced Sunday Mornings. The Saturday Nights portion was produced by Gil Norton (who also produced the band's second album, Recovering the Satellites), while Sunday Mornings was produced by Brian Deck.

Powers' contribution to the album is listed in the liner notes as, "bass guitar, upright double bass, general all-around unflappable musical genius... and vocals."

Live From Soho

Recorded in March 27, 2008 at a live in-store performance in Apple's famous SoHo location in New York City. This album was an iTunes exclusive. Powers plays bass and upright double bass.

TV Appearances

May 23 2008 - Good Morning America with Counting Crows

April 9 2008 - Craig Ferguson with Counting Crows

March 30 and April 6 2008 - A&E's Private Sessions with Counting Crows

March 25 2008 - The View, with Counting Crows

March 24 2008 - Letterman, with Counting Crows

March 2008 - Good Morning America with Counting Crows

March 2008 - The Sauce with Counting Crows

July 9 2007 - Home Run Derby on ESPN with Counting Crows

Sept 2005 - Dec 2005 - Three Wishes with Amy Grant (10 episodes)

2005 - The View with Amy Grant

2005 - Letterman with Amy Grant

2005 - The Today Show with Amy Grant

Jan 19 2005 - Jimmy Kimmel Live! with Holly Williams

2001 - Craig Kilborn with Ben Folds

Discography

Powers has taken a role in the following works:

Counting Crows - Live from SoHo - 2008 (Bass, Upright Double Bass)

Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - 2008 (Bass, Upright Double Bass)

Greata Gaines - Whiskey Thoughts - 2008 (Bass)

Amy Grant - Time Again...Amy Grant Live - 2006 (CD & DVD)

Swan Dive - Popcorn And A Mama Who Loves Me Too - 2005 (Bass, Moog bass)

Owsley - The Hard Way - 2004 (Bass)

Warren Zanes - Memory Girls - 2003 (Bass, Background Vocals)

Millard Powers - Millard Powers - 2001

Sandra McCracken - Gypsy Flat Road - 2001 (Bass)

Sarah Siskind - Covered - 2001 - (Bass)

Sarah Siskind - Six Songs of Mine - 2000 - (Bass)

Owsley - Owsley - 1999 (Producer, Engineer, Songwriter)

Various Artists - Nashpop: A Nashville Pop Collection - 1998 - (Performer)

The Semantics - Powerbill - 1993 - (Writer, Musician, Producer)

The World as Best as I Remember It, Volume Two - Rich Mullins - 1992 (Backing Vocals)

Majosha - Shut Up and Listen to Majosha - 1989 (Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals, Co-Producer)

Majosha - Party All Night: Five Songs About Jesus. - 1988 (Guitar, Vocals, Co-Producer)

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