Escatawpa, Miss., isn't exactly a bastion of rock. As a matter of fact, it's not exactly the center of much. But thanks to the native sons in 3 Doors Down [ tickets ], Escatawpa is officially on the map.

"We're all from the same small town," said bassist Todd Harrell. "We're all walking distance from each other's house. We've got one red light, one grocery store ... like, 8,000 people in our home town."

Thanks to the band's song "Kryptonite," 3 Doors Down [ tickets ] was able to peek its head out of the rural town and capture the attention of record label execs. The song originally appeared on the band's 1997 demo and garnered airplay on radio station WCPR in nearby Biloxi, Mass.

"The PD [program director] from the local radio station added it, and it went up the charts to No. 1, and it stayed there for over a year," Harrell said. "That kind of sparked interest in all of these record companies, you know. One time, we had six or seven record companies talking to us at once."

The band--which also includes singer Brad Arnold, guitarists Matt Roberts and Chris Henderson, and drummer Richard Liles--eventually inked a deal with Republic/Universal Records, which released 3 Doors Down's major-label debut, "The Better Life."

"We think we made all the right decisions. So far everything's been real good. The record company's got behind us, management's given us good support. We got a lot of good people working with us, man."

"The Better Life" features five songs from the band's demo, as well as six more recent songs. Mixed by Toby Wright (Korn, Alice in Chains), "The Better Life" has produced the hits "Kryptonite" and the dour "Loser."

Although the group is planning on pushing a handful of other singles from "The Better Life"--maybe "Duck and Run," "Life of My Own" or "Not Enough"--3 Doors Down already has recorded new songs with Alex Lifeson of Rush producing.

"We thought they were gonna be B-sides for 'The Better Life,' but they turned out so good that we might just hang on to them," said Harrell. "We don’t know what we’re going to do with them. We're doing five new songs in our set that nobody's ever heard, too."

Harrell chalks up 3 Doors Down's success to the band's "straight forward rock and roll."

"I look out there every night and the crowd kind of ranges from little kids to grown adults. I think it's just rock and roll. I think it's time for that to come back," Harrell explained.

"I think the angry rock's just about over with. I think that's the reason right there. I don't think there’s anybody playing real rock and roll. We played with Tesla the other night. I grew up listening to Tesla. They're out doing it again. Them, Motley Crue, Poison got their dues. That's what I grew up listening to. They're still doing it. Rock and roll don't go away, you know."