Better Than Ezra tour builds ‘Paper Empire’ across U.S. through late summer

Alternative rock trio Better Than Ezra (BTE) returns to the road this summer not only with a new album, but also with a new band member. The tour begins with a May 29-30 stand at the House of Blues in New Orleans, LA, and ends August 21 at Power Plant Live in Baltimore, MD.

The 30-city tour is booked into clubs and theaters across the nation, including a June 6 show at the House of Blues in Houston, TX, a June 19 concert at the Fillmore in New York, NY, a July 11 performance at the NorVa in Norfolk, VA, and a July 25 gig at The Pageant in St. Louis, MO.

The rock band will perform two different engagements in Chicago, IL, beginning with a June 24 set at Pioneer Court and returning later for a June 27 concert at the city’s House of Blues venue. A few concert plans are also in the works for fall, including an October 4 show at the Gretna Heritage Festival in Gretna, LA.

This will be BTE’s first full-length tour since the early 2009 departure of longtime drummer Travis McNabb, who had been touring with Sugarland for more than a year. Though he was replaced by Michael Jerome on the drums, McNabb will continue to serve as a board member for the band-run charity, the Better Than Ezra Foundation.

“We want to let you know that after 12 great years with Better Than Ezra, Travis McNabb is moving on to pursue other opportunities in music,” band members Kevin Griffin and Tom Drummond explained in a statement on the official BTE Web site. They added, “We will miss Travis dearly and wish him nothing but success and happiness in the years to come.”

The upcoming tour supports the Louisiana-based trio’s seventh studio album “Paper Empire,” which is also the first to feature new drummer Jerome. The record is scheduled to hit store shelves tomorrow, May 12, about four years after the band’s May 2005 effort “Before the Robots.”

Better Than Ezra itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)