Better Than Ezra | |
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Better Than Ezra performing live in Nashville, Tennessee in 2002.
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Background information | |
Origin | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. |
Genres |
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Years active | 1988–present |
Labels | |
Website | betterthanezra |
Members |
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Past members |
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Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed to The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The current band consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass guitar), and Michael Jerome (drums). The band has released 8 studio albums, the most recent one being 2014's All Together Now. They are best known for their 1993 platinum album Deluxe and the 1995 single Good, which hit no. 1 on the Hot Modern Rocks Tracks charts.
Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by its four original members – vocalist and guitarist, Kevin Griffin; lead guitarist, Joel Rundell; bassist, Tom Drummond; and drummer, Cary Bonnecaze. All four members were attending Louisiana State University at the time of Better Than Ezra's formation. Better Than Ezra's first public performance was at Murphy's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 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's memoir A Moveable Feast, in which Hemingway describes a particularly annoying sound as "...no worse than other noises, certainly better than Ezra 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.