This is later with Lee Matthews the Lee Matthews Podcast More What You Here weekday
afternoons on the Drive Back in nineteen eighty eight, Kevin Griffin and his friends
on the campus of LSU formed a group that would later become legendary Better than
Ezra, an alternative rock icon about to well. Actually, they're in the
midst of their Legends of the Fall twenty twenty three tour, one of one
stop of which will be in Oklahoma City at the Jones Assembly Center on November
fourteenth. Mark that down. Kevin Griffin, lead singer Better than Ezra's joining
us now. Greetings, Lee, it is so good to be talking with
you today, especially about going to Oklahoma City, one of our favorite clubs
in the country, Jones Assembly. Well, you know you and I have
something in common. About the time you were forming Better Than on the campus
of LSU, I was studying broadcasting down the road and laugh he hatte at
usl Are you a rage and Cajun? I am a raging Cajun. I
am born in New Iberia and bread in New Iberia. Dude, I love
that. And you don't have any New Iberia accident anymore? Can you can
you can you summon it. I can get that. You pump up a
pump a couple, you pump a couple of bears in me, and I
turned right back into my barry boy. Yeah. Look, I grew up
in Monroe, Louisiana, and you're right, man, I love it.
We started LSU and and we used to go play Lafiette Latte. Everybody was
nuts and it was a party town. It still is a party town.
What was the crazy? What was the crazy? Late night club outside of
Lastiette? It was just, oh, I'll have to remember it. I
can't remember it. Was it alic to say, Well, was it a
Cajun club with Cajun music or was it? Oh, it was like a
dance club, like craziness happening. And some people, some of my friends
and my opporternity at who would go there late night. They would drive the
fifty fifty minutes over there, drive back with one eye open. Oh my
god. But yeah, just insanity at back in the day. But yeah,
man, we can't wait to be up in Oklahoma City. You know,
a good friend of ours is one of the owners of Jones Assembly,
a guy named Graham Colson, who has its own reporting career and uh,
and we just you know, it's it's a great venue. And uh,
we're looking forward to being back Legend of the Fall, return of Legends of
the Fall. Yes, because you had a Legend of the Fall tour and
this is the return, this is the twenty twenty three version. Are we
going to see anything new? Are you gonna hear new songs? Yeah,
you're going to hear You're going to hear well, actually, you know,
we haven't announced yet, but I'll tell you or Howie Day is going to
be on that bill with us. So Howie Day will be opening all the
shows on that tour, singing his hits and new dance moves. We're always
thinking of like we really based every tour on what is Pink doing. And
Pink has been doing a lot of a lot of bungee aerial gymnastics. So
we we've rigged something. We don't have the budget that Pink he has,
but we have some of those elastic tie downs. We've rigged jury rigged a
kind of carness for our drummer and he'll come down from the roof and splash
in an inflatable pool at one point, and it's just beautiful. It's just
so graceful and we can't wait to share it with Oklahoma and that'll be on
fourteen November at the Jones Assembly. So keep that in mind and get now
is better than Ezra currently in the studio, was well working on new music.
Can you tell me about the origin of the name? Better than Ezra?
You know what? We used to tell people to origin the name,
and people were just kind of let down because it's such a fun name,
but the explanation just didn't live up to it, so we didn't tell anybody.
And all these great explanations have come up and one of our favorites,
and let's go with that this morning. Ash on Himingways a Movable Feast,
his one of his great novels. One page two fifty eight, there's a
line that says anything was better than Ezra learning how to play the bassoon.
I think that's the fact that Himmingway wrote the words in a row better than
Ezra, and then it has something to do with music. Was just badass.
So I like to think God was that educated. But you know,
I graduated from Louisiana State University, so that's that's debatable. Yeah, and
your degree was English though, wasn't it? So? I mean you were
well English major. Yeah, it's got a little bit to do with Ezra
pounds, but it's all silliness. Let's go with him away. Kevin Griffin
is with this lead singer better than Ezra, embarking on their Legends of the
Fall twenty twenty three tour. And you also have a book out, The
Greatest Song. It's a business parable it is, dude, thank you so
much for missing that. It came out April twenty fifth. It's been a
number one book on Amazon for music and music business, in print and on
audible. You know, about seven years ago, I got asked by a
friend, he goes man, would you ever want to speak to our business
group. It was a business group called YPO. There this this kind of
like there's five hundred chapters around the world and it's all entrepreneurs, men and
women, And so I got a few months later, I spoke to them
just about the creative process, what I do to continue being to be able
to write hits and get singles for other bands and sustain a career. And
what I found is the things that I do in my music business, people
do or can do in any business, and it kind of resonated. I
speak to groups like Disney and Google and Nike, and I go all over
doing it. And so I turned it into a book, and you know,
like a business parable like Who Moved My Cheese? Or Richdead Poor Toader,
those kind of books, and it just is taken off man, and
it's been really gratifying. Early in my career, I was in Fort Smith,
Arkansas, and in charge of a group of radio stations. We organized
a downtown concert every Friday, and we tried to feature local talent. And
I heard about a young girl who was going to school in Tallaquah, Oklahoma,
not far from Fort Smith. I reached out to her and I asked
her, Hey, would you be willing to come and perform at this venue.
All we can offer you is lots of free publicity. I don't have
a budget for a sound guy. I uh, you know, she said,
don't worry about it. I've got my own sound guys. I said,
okay, and and and you know, we people come out and it's
all about exposure. And she goes, great, as long as I can
sell my CDs, I said, you can sell your CDs all you want
her name was Carrie Underwood. This was before her American idle days. And
I said to myself, when she came and performed, and what had her
brothers out selling the CDs person to person in the audience, I said to
myself, she she gets it, she understands that this is a business.
And and sure enough she did. It's so true and and it the the
misperception, the misperception that people have musician cab is that you know, you
know, I can't I can't think about the business side of it because it
will, it will make my music, it'll it won't be sure and stuff
like that. But it's called the music business. And the people who were
really successful in this business, they're eight musicians, they're great artists, but
they are also great business people. And I always tell young I've mentored a
lot of young writers and and and and and artists in my life, and
I'm always I'm always the first thing I say is like, learn about your
business, you know, learn about how what the income streams are, how
how you do what you do, you know, Because the irony is that
people say, well, I don't want to, you know, I have
to learn about all the business stuff. But that's what ends up ruining your
career. And the people who are around now and crushing it, they're mainly
incredibly great businessmen like like Taylor Swift or or Carrie Underwood or you know the
insert different artists. So yeah, you gotta you gotta know it. And
there's no reason not. There's so much information out there on how to to
to have a successful music career and do all these things. They can really
allow you ultimately to have artistic freedom. And and the book is one of
those things that I've put out there that that is is really a great thing
for people to read to know how to continue being inspired and successful. Kevin
Griffin, The book is the greatest song available on Amazon and everywhere you get
books. It's a business parable but everywhere you go and their concerts, which
is the It's coming on November fourteenth, led the return of Legends of the
Fall twenty twenty three. November fourteenth, Oklahoma City, Jones Assembly. We
will see you then and Kevin Griffin, thanks for the great music and the
great advice. Brother to thank you great Called to a Feather, Louis Biennia,
thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews podcast,
and remember to listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and
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