Better Than Ezra is an American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band based in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, and signed with The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of count ...

, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass guitar), Michael Jerome (drums), and James Arthur Payne Jr. (guitar, keyboards). The band has released eight studio albums, most recently 2014's '' All Together Now''. They are best known for their 1993 multi-platinum album ''

Deluxe Deluxe may refer to: Corporations * Deluxe Corporation, check printers * De Luxe Motor Car Company, an American automobile manufacturer Media and entertainment * DeLuxe Color, a brand of color photography used in motion pictures, especially t ...

'' and the 1995 single "

Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, p ...

", which reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart.

History

Formation and early success

Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin, lead guitarist Joel Rundell, bassist Tom Drummond, and drummer Cary Bonnecaze. All four members were attending

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

at the time of Better Than Ezra's formation. Better Than Ezra's first public performance was at Murphy's in

, also in 1988. Though many theories abound, the band refuses to disclose the origin of its name. One theory is that it comes from a line in

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

's memoir '' A Moveable Feast'', in which Hemingway describes a particularly annoying sound as "...no worse than other noises, certainly better than

Ezra Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest ('' kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρ� ...

learning to play the bassoon." Drummond once told a reporter that the meaning of the band's name is "so lame you wouldn't even want to print it." It has also been said that the name came into being when the then nameless band entered a battle of the bands in competition with a group named Ezra. Needing a name to register they simply said that they were better. Fans of the group often refer to themselves as Ezralites. Better Than Ezra circulated a demo cassette tape later in 1988, the ''Chime Street Demo''. While not an official release, this demo is sought-after by the band's fans, and traded by collectors. In 1990 the band released a cassette-only album, '' Surprise''. Joel Rundell, the band's lead guitarist, died by suicide on August 8, 1990. The remaining three members of the band took some time off to reassess its future following Rundell's death. However, Griffin, Drummond and Bonnecaze reunited Better Than Ezra as a trio by the end of 1990. The trio continued playing house parties and fraternity shows across southern United States during the early 1990s. The band released its first nationally distributed album ''

'' in 1993 on its own indie label, Swell Records, which caught the attention of major record labels and radio. Better Than Ezra signed with Elektra Records in 1995.

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between th ...

rereleased ''Deluxe'' in 1995 and the single, "

", reached the No. 1 position on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart which helped push the album to platinum record status by the end of 1995. Success came quickly to Better Than Ezra. Tom Drummond commented later in a 1998 interview with CNN, "It took us seven years to get signed, and then seven weeks to get to No. 1" when describing the overnight success of ''Deluxe'' and its single "Good."

1996–2000

After ''Deluxe'' major label release, original drummer Cary Bonnecaze left the band in 1996. He was replaced by drummer Travis McNabb, formerly of the band Vigilantes of Love, who was tapped to play on the band's upcoming album, '' Friction, Baby''. Bonnecaze's departure set off a series of lawsuits and counter-suits between Bonnecaze and Better Than Ezra. Bonnecaze, who took his suit to the

United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district c ...

in New Orleans, argued that the band owed him money "based on his role in fortifying the band's reputation," according to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

''. He asked for approximately $1 million in damages. A settlement was reached between the band and Bonnecaze on August 5, 1999. The exact terms of the settlement were not released at the time, though Better Than Ezra's manager John Isbell was quoted as saying that Bonnecaze received "way less" than the one million dollars he had originally requested. Better Than Ezra released their second major label album, '' Friction, Baby'', in 1996 through Elektra Records. The album produced the hits "

Desperately Wanting "Desperately Wanting" is a song by American alternative rock group Better Than Ezra. It was released in December 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, ''Friction, Baby'', and became a chart hit in the United States, Australia a ...

" and " King of New Orleans". ''Friction, Baby'' was not as commercially successful as ''Deluxe'', but has sold almost 500,000 units as of 1999. The trio began work on their third major release, ''

How Does Your Garden Grow? ''How Does Your Garden Grow?'' is an album by the American alternative rock trio Better Than Ezra, released in 1998 via Elektra Records. It was the band's second album with drummer Travis Aaron McNabb. The album peaked at No. 128 on the ''Billbo ...

'', soon after the end of touring for ''Friction, Baby''. The album was recorded between mid-January and late-April at a studio in New Orleans. The album was produced by

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Malcolm Burn, who had formerly produced Iggy Pop and U2, and released on August 25, 1998. The album was described as "experimental" and a significant departure from their previous two albums. Griffin described the album in 1998 as "guitar driven ... rhythmic." Likewise, Tom Drummond described the band's thinking on its third major album, "We thought the third album was a very important record, because generally a band either makes or breaks on the third record. We wanted it to be a record that didn't necessarily sound like what people expected." Despite the emphasis on guitar experimentation, two tracks, "One More Murder" and "Je ne m'en souviens pas" contain no guitars. The single "At the Stars" debuted, and peaked, at number 78 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The band was dropped by Elektra Records following the release of ''

'' in 1999.

2000–2008

The band released the B-Sides and rarities collection ''

Artifakt ''Artifakt'' is a compilation album by Better Than Ezra, sold only at the band's concerts and through the official Better Than Ezra merchandise website beginning in 2001. The previously rare and unreleased songs comprising the album span the ba ...

'' on its own "Ezra Dry Goods/Fudge" label in 2000. ''Artifakt'' was only sold online and at concerts. Tom Drummond, the band's bassist, noted in 2002, "It's basically an album full of rarities." Better Than Ezra, now no longer with Elektra Records, signed with the Beyond Records label and began work on new material. Drummond explained the reasoning for choosing a smaller label, "We decided we wanted to be big fish in a small pond instead of a little fish in a big pond. We just wanted to be with a label who wanted success as much as we did." Griffin, Drummond and McNabb spent 18 months working on '' Closer'', their follow-up album to 1998's ''

'' and their first new material since being dropped by Elektra Records. The album was recorded in New Orleans in the band's own studio, which allowed the members to focus on creating music rather than rental costs per day. ''Closer'' was mixed in Los Angeles by Better Than Ezra and the album's producer, Brad Wood. However, the band felt that some tracks needed scratching. Producer Brad Wood's management company recommended DJ Swamp, who had previously worked with Beck, to mix several tracks. The use of a DJ for two of the album's tracks, the first single "

Extra Ordinary "Extra Ordinary" is a song by American alternative rock group Better Than Ezra. It was released in July 2001 as their first single from their album '' Closer''. It was also featured in a McDonald's television commercial that aired during the 200 ...

" and "Recognize", marked a departure for the band, who hadn't previously employed a DJ before. ''Closer'' was released on August 7, 2001. Better Than Ezra launched a tour in support of the album on July 26, 2001. The first single off the album, "Extra Ordinary", which had been mixed by DJ Swamp, was inspired by an AC/DC song. The album's promotion hit a snag after its record label, Beyond Records, went out of business in 2002 shortly after ''Closer'' release. Beyond Record's bankruptcy left ''Closer'' out of print for several years. In June 2009, Better Than Ezra announced that it had acquired the rights to ''Closer'' and would re-release it in the Fall of 2009 with two new previously unreleased tracks, "Simple Song" and "Screwed Up and Beautiful." In June 2001, Better Than Ezra filmed a series of commercials for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's '' College GameDay''. The promo features the band while sports analyst Lee Corso crowd surfs to the stage, where he continues his sports reporting. On September 28, 2004, the band simultaneously released their first live concert DVD, as well as an official live album, both entitled ''

Live at the House of Blues, New Orleans ''Live at House of Blues New Orleans'' is a live album and DVD released by the band Better Than Ezra on September 28, 2004 as their sixth album, first of two live albums, and their only on Sanctuary Records. The album and DVD were recorded and fil ...

'' through Sanctuary Records. The DVD and album were filmed and recorded at two separate shows at the House of Blues in New Orleans during the summer of 2004. A Greatest Hits collection was released on March 15, 2005, through Rhino Entertainment, a division of the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. (trade name, d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York C ...

. The band's sixth studio album '' Before the Robots'' (Artemis Records) was released on May 31, 2005. In 2005, '' Desperate Housewives'' creator Marc Cherry used the band's song " Juicy" as the background music for the second season of the show's promotional advertisements, which Griffin credited with bringing attention to the album. The song "Juicy" has also been heard in the background in commercials for Applebee's restaurants.

2009–present

Longtime drummer Travis McNabb left Better Than Ezra in February 2009 and their last performance together was Family Gras in Metairie, Louisiana. The primary reason given for his departure was the demand on his time by

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

and bluegrass group, Sugarland, with whom McNabb had previously been touring for some time. The split was amicable, with bassist Tom Drummond saying, "It's bittersweet. He's fantastic. We're still good friends, and there are no hard feelings. We'll miss him. But this is an opportunity he needed to take." Announced at the same time was McNabb's replacement, New Orleans-based drummer Michael Jerome, formerly of the band Pleasure Club. In addition, Better Than Ezra announced the May 12, 2009, release date for their seventh studio album, entitled ''

Paper Empire ''Paper Empire'' is the seventh studio album by the New Orleans-based rock trio Better Than Ezra, released on May 12, 2009, through Red Distribution. It is the first album to feature new drummer Michael Jerome following the departure of former dru ...

'', which is produced by Warren Huart and singer Kevin Griffin. The first single, " Absolutely Still", was released for iTunes purchase on March 17. On January 22, 2010, American country-pop singer

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

covered "Breathless" at a performance on '' Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief'', a charity telethon to benefit the victims of the

2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's ca ...

. On May 22, 2013, Griffin confirmed that the band plans to release their first new album since 2009 later in the year. On February 10, 2014, it was announced that the band had signed with The End Records for the release of their eighth studio album. The album, '' All Together Now'', was released on September 9, 2014. On August 29, 2014, the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of ''Surprise'' was released. According to original drummer Cary Bonnecaze, "The family of Joel Rundell (our original guitarist who passed away in 1990) and I own the original recording, and we thought that with 2014 being the 25th anniversary of its original release, it would be a good time to release it." On June 1, 2018, BTE released a new track called "GRATEFUL" via The End Records. On August 13 and 14, 2021, Better Than Ezra played a pair of sold-out shows at the House of Blues New Orleans in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their second album '' Friction, Baby''. During these shows, the band played the album in its entirety, as well as some other fan-favorite songs. A few months later, the band returned to the same venue to play their album '' Closer'' in its entirety to another sold-out crowd. In October 2022, during their fall tour, Griffin revealed that the band would be releasing a new album in March 2023 and have teased a new song entitled "Mystified".

Band members

Current members * Tom Drummond – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–present) * Kevin Griffin – lead vocals, guitar, piano (1988–present) * James Arthur Payne Jr. – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1996–present) * Michael Jerome – drums, backing vocals (2009–present) Former members * Cary Bonnecaze – drums, backing vocals (1988–1996) * Joel Rundell – lead guitar, backing vocals (1988–1990; his death) * Travis McNabb – drums (1996–2009) Touring members * Alex Allemang – keyboards, backing vocals (1993–1996) * Neal Josten – keyboards, key grip, backing vocals (1993–1997)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:140 bottom:60 top:10 right:100 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1988 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1988 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:bgvox value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_album id:Lines1 value:gray(0.6) legend:Extended_play id:bars value:gray(0.95) Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1988 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1988 BarData = bar:KG text:"Kevin Griffin" bar:JR text:"Joel Rundell" bar:JP text:"James Arthur Payne Jr." bar:TD text:"Tom Drummond" bar:CB text:"Cary Bonnecaze" bar:TM text:"Travis McNabb" bar:MJ text:"Michael Jerome" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:KG from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/1997 color:guitar width:3 bar:KG from:01/01/1997 till:end color:guitar width:7 bar:KG from:01/01/1997 till:end color:keys width:3 bar:KG from:01/01/1988 till:end color:vocals bar:TD from:01/01/1988 till:end color:bass bar:TD from:01/01/1996 till:end color:bgvox width:3 bar:JR from:01/01/1988 till:08/08/1990 color:guitar bar:JR from:01/01/1988 till:08/08/1990 color:bgvox width:3 bar:CB from:01/01/1988 till:12/31/1995 color:drums bar:CB from:01/01/1988 till:12/31/1995 color:bgvox width:3 bar:TM from:01/01/1996 till:02/15/2009 color:drums bar:MJ from:02/15/2009 till:end color:drums bar:MJ from:02/15/2009 till:end color:bgvox width:3 bar:JP from:01/01/1996 till:end color:guitar bar:JP from:01/01/1996 till:end color:keys width:7 bar:JP from:01/01/1996 till:end color:bgvox width:3 LineData = at:04/24/1990 color:black layer:back at:11/16/1993 color:black layer:back at:08/13/1996 color:black layer:back at:08/28/1998 color:black layer:back at:08/02/2001 color:black layer:back at:05/31/2005 color:black layer:back at:05/12/2009 color:black layer:back at:10/18/2011 color:Lines1 layer:back at:09/09/2014 color:black layer:back

Discography

Studio albums * ''Surprise'' (1990) * ''

'' (1993) * '' Friction, Baby'' (1996) * ''

'' (1998) * '' Closer'' (2001) * '' Before the Robots'' (2005) * ''

'' (2009) * '' All Together Now'' (2014) * ''TBA'' (2023)

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Alternative rock groups from Louisiana Musical groups from New Orleans V2 Records artists American post-grunge musical groups Musical groups established in 1988 American musical trios 1988 establishments in Louisiana Roots rock music groups Musical groups from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Artemis Records artists