Notorious NOLA band Better Than Ezra gives back to the Big Easy.

 

TD: Thank you. We are really excited about the things we are able to do for the community.We began our foundation and fundraising event, the Ezra Open, 11 years ago. After Hurricane Katrina, we shifted our focus and established a mission to commit funding towards the renewal of the structural and cultural heritage of New Orleans and Southern Louisiana. Since then, we've has raised over $700,000 for various causes in and around New Orleans. We will have our next Ezra Open this Fall on September 23rd and will consist of a celebrity bowling tournament followed by a Concert, Patron Party and Auction that evening. It's a great time and helps us give back to the city that has always been so good to us.  www.btefoundation.org

 

 

TD: Most recently we built an educational playground for the children at Bethune Elementary in the Holly Grove neighborhood of New Orleans. The faculty and kids there deserve so much more than they have currently as they have some of the highest test scores in the state while being on a shoe string budget.

 

We were really inspired and impressed by the hard work and excitement of the kids, the teachers, and principal Mary-Haynes Smith. When we met with the school, we were instantly moved by the stories told to us by Principal Smith so we asked how we could help and what were some of the important things they needed most.

 

Basic supplies such as notebooks, pencil sharpeners, paper etc were first and we delivered a truck load of that immediately. While touring the school we noticed the brand new playground that was built for them post Katrina. The teachers pointed out that only the older kids could play on it because of safety regulation and that the younger pre-K and Kindergarten kids could not play on it.... So in addition to the school supplies we thought it would be perfect to donate a playground that would not only entertain but educate as well.

 

To see their faces light up when they saw the playground was incredible. I'll never forget it and can't wait to do more for Bethune in the future.

 

 

 

TD: We launched the first Krewe of Rocckus this past year which was an inclusive New Orleans travel package during Mardi Gras. It was inspired by the rock cruises we have performed on and we thought, why not do a three-day event during Mardi Gras with music, parades and food hosted by Better Than Ezra?

 

We ended up having people from over 20 different states and 3 Canadian Provinces come down to New Orleans to experience Mardi Gras and most have never been to the city! We were their tour guides showing them the best the city has to offer from a brunch with John Besh, a Second Line complete with brass band and Mardi Gras Indians, private parade viewing stands for the best parades, two nights of concerts at House of Blues, balcony on bourbon st. and 3 night stay at the Hilton Riverside. And we were there every step of the way!

 

We are working out all the details for the 2012 event and hope to make it bigger and better, so if you've never been to Mardi Gras, come hang with us!
www.roadtomardigras.com

 

 

TD: New Orleans fans tend to know the entire catalog very well, so it gives us more of an opportunity to perform some of the lesser known songs in the set.  If we're in Des Moines say, we usually need to put more of the "hits" in the setlist.

 

 

TD: We're very proud to be called New Orleans musicians.  There are so many fantastic players of all types here, that you really have to be on your game to keep up and be relevant.  There's so much talent here that if you rest on your laurels, you will be passed up and forgotten quickly.  Keeps us on our toes, and also allows for us to have great opportunities for guest musicians both on the recordings and at the live show.  We just finished mixing our 2011 Jazzfest set which is now on sale at munckmusic.com.  We have John Gros and Jason Mingledorf from Papa Grows funk and Mark Mullins from Bonerama and Brian Graber sitting in on the whole set.  Really allows us to take the show to a whole new place when those guys are on board. 

 

 

 

TD: Currently, one show is planned for 12/30 at Harrah's Theatre.  As a side note, we are working on an album of nothing but LSU fight songs.  Plans include performances of BTE songs by the Golden Band from Tigerland as well as BTE versions of stadium favorites, plus a few of our favorite songs from our time at LSU.  We will also be performing Friday Night at the House of Blues Dallas on September 2nd before the College Kickoff Classic between LSU and Oregon.  Should be a fun time!