On the heels of releasing this summer’s instant-classic, “Mystified,” Alt-Rock icons Better Than Ezra (BTE)’s first new single since 2018, the perennial rock outfit now returns on November 3 with “Contact High,” the latest hint of the band’s forthcoming, highly-anticipated tenth studio album (Round Hill Records).
Recorded at Tennessee’s Pink Deer Studio and written and produced by BTE singer-guitarist Kevin Griffin, alongside Emery Dobyns, the country-leaning jam, which recalls some of The Rolling Stones’ most twangy and effortlessly charming efforts, is set in the southern California desert and references a rowdy evening at the legendary Pioneertown bar, Pappy and Harriet’s. “You make a dead man grab his heart/I gotta contact high,” Griffin sings with a wry wink.
“Contact High,” which Griffin describes as “about that buzz you get when around that person you can’t be without,” arrives right on time — the day after their fall tour opener. Having recently wrapped up their momentous summer tour, Better Than Ezra are now gearing up for a massive end of the year with their RETURN OF LEGENDS OF THE FALL 2023 TOUR, which kicks off on November 2 at Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Up next, BTE will stop at New Orleans’ Ochstoberfest Benefit Concert (10/27) and Thibodaux’s Acadia Music Fest (10/28). For all Better Than Ezra touring details and to purchase tickets, click here.
Announced dates, cities, and venues of the RETURN OF LEGENDS OF THE FALL 2023 TOUR:
NOVEMBER
2 | Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
3 | Beverly, MA – The Cabot
4 | Patchogue, NY – Patchogue Theatre
5 | Washington, DC – Lincoln Theatre
9 | Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
10| Baton Rouge, LA – L’Auberge Casino & Hotel
11| Dallas, TX – House of Blues
12| Houston, TX – House of Blues
14| Oklahoma City, OK – The Jones Assembly
16| Chicago, IL – House of Blues
17| Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Ballroom
Since forming in 1988 at Louisiana State University, Better Than Ezra (which includes Kevin Griffin – vocals, guitar, keyboards; Tom Drummond – bass guitar; Michael Jerome Moore – percussion; James “Jim” Arthur Payne Jr. – guitar, keyboards) have been on a rocket ride through the Rock world, definitively making their presence felt at every turn. The band exists in rare air among their peers having occupied spots on Billboard’s “100 Greatest Alternative Songs of All Time” and “100 Greatest Alternative Artists of All Time.” Better Than Ezra was a prominent fixture on radio and MTV in the Nineties and early 2000’s, thanks in large part to the monumental success of their cherished 1993 independent album, DELUXE, which included standout fan-favorite “Good,” a MULTI-PLATINUM selling #1 hit on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart.
