"BTE hopes for 'Extra Ordinary' live CD
August 1, 2003
New Orleans Times-Picayune/Nola.com
by Keith Spera

Local modern rock favorite Better Than Ezra finally takes part in a rock 'n' roll rite of passage this weekend: Recording a live album.  Shows tonight and Saturday at the House of Blues will be recorded for a live CD and DVD, to be released in November. At least two fans will participate directly in the project. At each show, a fan selected through an essay contest via the BTE Web site will operate a "fan-cam", collecting fans-eye-view footage for inclusion on the DVD.

Cultivating an active and close-knit fan club has served singer/guitarist Kevin Griffin, bassist Tom Drummond and drummer Travis McNabb well over the years, allowing them to draw steady crowds on the road even if modern rock radio no longer embraces the band as enthusiastically as in the mid-'90's.

BTE has managed to survive the ups and downs of a fickle modern rock market. Elektra Records dropped Ezra after two follow-ups to the trios platinum-selling 1995 debut, "Deluxe," failed to match its success. The independent label Beyond Records released the band's fourth album in 2001, in what turned out to be a one-off deal. BTE is currently without a record deal; the musicians are paying for the live album and DVD themselves, then will shop the finished product to labels.

And already Griffin, McNabb and Drummond are looking beyond the live project. They've written and recorded tracks for their fifth studio album, their first since "Closer" in 2001. A yet-to-be-determined label will likely release the new studio album in early 2004.

In addition to the studio work, BTE continues to tour intermittently, and Griffin is nurturing his career as a songwriter for other artists. He wrote "Good Boys," the lead single form the forthcoming Blondie album, and co-wrote "Perfect Time of Day," the first single from up-and-coming roots rocker Howie Day's next album. But this weekend, he and his bandmates focus on "Good," "Rosealia," "King of New Orleans," "Desperately Wanting," "At the Stars," "Extra Ordinary," and other BTE chestnuts as Ezra, like Peter Frampton before them, comes alive."