It's hard to believe that over 10 years have passed since Mississippi's 3 Doors Down exploded onto radios everywhere with their single "Kryptonite."

Since then the band has gone on to release four albums that have, at minimum, reached gold sales status, with their first two albums going multi-platinum.

Their latest effort, "Time of My Life," was released this past July and debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, selling nearly 60,000 units in the first week it was available.

Their brand of southern rock - that is, both hard rock and melodic - has done well in the Midwest and the South, places that gravitate towards more working-class music and bands.

Making the music they love - and that the fans love to hear - is something that the band continued to drive forward on "Time of My Life," says 3 Doors Down bassist Todd Harrell, who also feels that this was both the easiest and best record the band has ever made.

"The new record's definitely a 3 Doors record. We didn't try to change. I think this time we went into the studio a lot more confident than we had in the past. I guess that just comes from doing it over the years so much. This record was really probably one of our better records, I think, as far as the band sitting down and writing songs and catching other ideas from other places. We had a lot of fun doing this record. We wrote much of the record out in Nashville and went to L.A. and finished up the writing process out there where we record. This is probably one of our best records yet."

Known for being a band that does around 300 shows a year, Harrell reveals that it's the band's love for traveling, performing and their fans that drive them to keep such a rigorous road schedule.

"That's the best part about doing what we do. Every night it's a different town, and we just love playing the music and bringing what we got to different fans. If you look at our track record, that's the part that we enjoy doing the most, and I think it shows. We're a great live band and we have a lot of fun on stage. I think people take that away when they come and see us. They know, they can tell, that we're up there having fun, and we're just going to try to continue to do it forever."

However, not every place they visit is warm and friendly to the band, specifically Los Angeles.

"(That's) the toughest place for us to play. L.A. is so jaded. I don't know what it takes to keep everybody's attention out in L.A. but that's the place that tough for us to play."

The glam/club crowd of L.A. may not be their scene, nor is 3 Doors Down L.A.'s most favorite band, but the band isn't playing for them. Their market is the working-class type of person.

"The blue-collar folks is our crowd. We tend to relate to those guys very well. That's the hard-working class, that's our people, that's the people we love to play for, love to entertain, and that's what we can relate to. We all come from hard-working families and that's what we like to try to relate to you; that's what we know."

With the blue-collar crowd being the type of people that support 3 Doors Down by and large, it's no surprise that many of the Midwest's cities, with their working-class backgrounds, are the biggest and most welcoming supporters of the band.

"We do well up in Cincinnati and Detroit, and Milwaukee's a good place for us. There's certain places that have really grabbed on and attached to the band. Like I said, L.A. is one of the tough markets for us. It seems like you have do something off the wall and crazy all the time to keep the fans' attention."

Off the wall and crazy may not be 3 Doors Down's style, but Harrell also reveals that their latest tour is going to feature a re-energized stage show that will add more bells and whistles to go along with the new music.

"For the past several years back we went with pyro and I think this next run around we're going to beef up the stage just a little bit. We've always had a cool stage, but we're going have some killer lights and I bet we're going to bring some pyro back out before long. The shows are really exciting and real entertaining and I think when anybody leaves a 3 Doors show they're like, "D*mn, that was a good show.'"