From "Good" to Better: Better Than Ezra Heading East to NJ Wellmont Theater with Wallflowers

From "Good" to Better, Better Than Ezra is heading east to NJ's Wellmont Theater Saturday July 8 with the Wallflowers.

How are you feeling about going out on tour with The Wallflowers?

It's going to be fun to hook up again, we hit at the same time. I've worked fairly recently with some people in the band, but I haven't seen Jacob (Dylan) in 20 years.

What do you like best about the situation you guys are in now?

We've had a charmed career. We've been able to keep playing live and releasing new music and our fans continue to come out to see us. It's like this amazingly large circle of friends. Our image and our fans have aged well and it's great to be able to still go out on tour and have fun.

What are the advantages and disadvantages in being from a music-rich city like New Orleans?

Being from the coolest city in the US if not the world gives you instant mystique. Only disadvantage I think of that in hailing from such a musically rich city, sometimes people expect us to have more diverse influences in our songs.

How does your relationship with your bandmates change as you age? What does it take to still be on the road after 20 years?

Well, being in a band is very much like being in a relationship, like in a marriage: It demands open communication and it's rare when it lasts. We all live in different cities now but we're still the best of friends.

You have said that "It took us seven years to get signed, and then seven weeks to get to No. 1." How do you think your rapid ascent has impacted your longevity?

Being together for so long before we signed, meant that we were ready. We had our 10,000 hours under our belts and we were always able to deliver live. Your sales can go up and down and your music can be on or off the radio, but you always have to be good live.

After 20 years, if you could go back and change one thing, what would it be?

On our second album we should have released "Desperately Wanting" instead of "King of New Orleans" as the first single. Might have given us more momentum out of the gate, and put us on a higher trajectory.

You've written songs for a lot if other artists. What are some of the better known ones?

To be happy creatively I need to keep doing a lot of stuff and always like to have music coming out between BTE albums... I've written songs that have been recorded by artists like Taylor Swift, Sugarland, James Blunt, Blondie, Meatloaf, The Struts,Moontaxi and the new Phillip Phillips release.