Better Than Ezra's Kevin Griffin talks band's 10th album, spring tour

Melonee Hurt, Nashville Tennessean

Franklin resident Kevin Griffin, founding member of the band Better Than Ezra and founder of Franklin's Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival, has been a little busy with establishing and growing his festival baby to find time to make a new record.

But in 2021, he and his bandmates decided it was time for Better Than Ezra to get back in the studio. The result is "Super Magick," the band's first full-length record in 10 years, which, according to Griffin, "feels like Better Than Ezra. It's fresh but also sounds familiar."

The album is set to be released May 3, but the latest single, "Live a Little," is out now and generating a buzz.

"We never stopped touring and we've been putting singles out," Griffin told The Tennessean. "I'm so confident in the album. The reaction we've gotten from the new songs 'Mystify,' 'Contact High' and 'Live a Little' has been so gratifying."

Members of Better Than Ezra are gearing up for the release of their 10th studio album, "Super Magick," on May 3, followed by their Live a Little Tour. From left are Michael Jerome Moore, Kevin Griffin, James Arthur Payne Jr. and Tom Drummond.
Members of Better Than Ezra are gearing up for the release of their 10th studio album, "Super Magick," on May 3, followed by their Live a Little Tour. From left are Michael Jerome Moore, Kevin Griffin, James Arthur Payne Jr. and Tom Drummond.

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He said the time span between albums wasn't deliberate but more a product of everyone's busy lives, adding that the band members would refocus and say, 'We need to do a new album,' and then a year would go by.

"Once it started to come to fruition, we said 'It really needs to be good.' It's a self-imposed weight we put on ourselves, but I think we delivered."

'Super Magick' recorded to sound like a band

The album cover for Better Than Ezra's 10th full-length studio album, "Super Magick."
The album cover for Better Than Ezra's 10th full-length studio album, "Super Magick."

Griffin said that although he loved the band's last album "All Together Now," released in 2014, he called it a very "deliberate" album, whereas "Super Magick" comes with a bit more ease and frivolity.

"I loved that last album, but the way it was recorded, it was a combination of real organic elements and programmed elements. It was a structured record, and we wanted to make this new one feel a little looser and more like a band. I didn't want it to sound too processed or pop."

He said the album was recorded live, with songs played start to finish, which produces an end product that sounds like a band, not like a computer-generated collection of perfect snippets and parts of songs pieced together.

"I sang the whole song each time," he said. "I didn't sing one line and cut and paste it into the song. If I messed up a vocal, I re-sang the whole thing. What you are hearing sounds like a band."

Kevin Griffin from Better Than Ezra, performs with Tigerlily Gold during the 2023 Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin.
Kevin Griffin from Better Than Ezra, performs with Tigerlily Gold during the 2023 Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin.

The songwriting process for this album began with Griffin bringing loose structure for the songs before bringing the band in to collaborate and finish the songs.

"The reason people like Better Than Ezra, why they keep coming, is because of the things the four members bring to the table. We butt heads sometimes, but the music we end up putting out has passed everybody’s litmus test, so to speak."

The band is set to embark on the Live a Little Tour, beginning in the band's hometown of New Orleans on May 3. A Nashville stop at 3rd & Lindsley is scheduled for May 5. A complete list of tour dates is below.

Better Than Ezra Live A Little Tour dates

  • May 3 - New Orleans – House Of Blues.

  • May 4 - New Orleans – House Of Blues.

  • May 5 - Nashville – 3rd & Lindsley.

  • May 7 - Louisville – Mercury Ballroom.

  • May 9 - St. Louis – The Pageant.

  • May 10 - Kansas City, Missouri – Uptown Theater.

  • May 11 - Minneapolis – Varsity Theater.

  • May 13 - Indianapolis, IN –The Vogue.

  • May 14 - Detroit – Saint Andrew’s Hall.

  • May 16 - Cleveland – House of Blues.

  • May 17 - Pittsburgh – Rivers Casino.

  • May 18 - Wilmington, Delaware – The Queen.

  • May 23 - Meridian, Mississippi – MSU Riley Center.

  • May 24 - Mobile, Alabama – Soul Kitchen Music Hall.

  • May 25 - Bossier City, Louisiana – Margaritaville Resort.

If you go

What: Better Than Ezra Live a Little Tour.

When: Sunday, May 5, at 7 p.m.

Where: 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville.

Tickets: $29.91 at betterthanezra.com

Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com, on X @HurtMelonee or Instagram at @MelHurtWrites.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Better Than Ezra releases 'Super Magick' 10 years after last album

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