Better Than Ezra’s Tommy D on Friction, Baby at 30, Closer at 25—and a Possible 2027 Album

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“I think we’ll have an album out next year.”

That’s what Better Than Ezra founding bassist Tommy D tells BourbonBlog.com ahead of the band’s Bourbon & Beyond debut. He’s talking about 2027: the band has recorded three or four songs and hopes to return to the studio in December, though no album title or release date has been announced.

Watch my complete interview with Tommy D in the video above and in the conversation on this link 

We connect ahead of Better Than Ezra’s Bourbon & Beyond debut, as Friction, Baby turns 30 and Closer turns 25. Tommy talks about a new song fans might hear Sunday, the bands he hopes to see in Louisville, and why he calls the ’90s “the last great decade.”

He is also at home working on pinball machines after weather disrupts another festival appearance. A Stranger Things game started that story, and I had to ask him how.

“Every band wants to play” Bourbon & Beyond

Tommy is excited about Better Than Ezra’s first appearance at Bourbon & Beyond.

“It’s one of these festivals that every band wants to play.”

—Tommy D

Sunday’s lineup feels like a reunion. Better Than Ezra is scheduled to close the 100 Proof Stage after The Verve Pipe, Tonic, Vertical Horizon and Our Lady Peace. Elsewhere that day, fans can see Counting Crows, Hootie & the Blowfish, Dave Matthews Band, Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories, Joan Osborne and Paula Cole, among others.

Some of those names are old friends. Better Than Ezra has toured with Hootie & the Blowfish, Tommy tells me, and he knows the band well. Our Lady Peace toured with Better Than Ezra in the ’90s, and he looks forward to seeing them again. He also mentions talk of possible shows with Counting Crows next year. Those are discussions, not an announced tour.

When I point out that Better Than Ezra is closing the 100 Proof Stage, Tommy catches the obvious connection: we ought to drink something 100 proof.

Twenty years since our first backstage interview with Better than Ezra and BoubonBlog.com

My first backstage interview with Tommy and the band (full story and video here  on July 14 in St. Louis. Yes, that is the photo from that night below.

Tommy, Travis McNabb and James Arthur Payne joined me after the show. There was bourbon, beer and Ketel One vodka, and we talked about their then-latest album, Before the Robots, “Juicy” and Hurricane Katrina.

Not long only after that the next year, I saw BTE perform with Violent Femmes at the infield at Churchill Downs for Kentucky Derby Week.

I saw the band again at The Vogue in Indianapolis on June 25, 2009—the day Michael Jackson died—and have crossed paths with them several more times over the years.

That shared history makes it especially rewarding to catch up now, with two of their albums celebrating major anniversaries and new music in the works.

Friction, Baby at 30, Closer at 25—and a possible new album

Friction, Baby arrived in 1996, bringing fans “King of New Orleans” and “Desperately Wanting.” Closer followed in 2001. Tommy says the band’s Legends of the Fall: Closer to the Edge Tour focuses on both records, with anniversary vinyl editions planned for the fall.

There is new music in the show, too. Better Than Ezra has been playing “Song of the Summer,” which Tommy describes as feeling somewhere between Deluxe and Friction, Baby. He says the Bourbon & Beyond crowd might hear it Sunday; he stops short of promising a particular festival setlist.

The band has three or four songs recorded and is working through vocals and other details, Tommy says. He expects another recording session may happen in December. When I ask about the future, he offers his clearest indication of what fans might hear next:

“I think we’ll have an album out next year.”

—Tommy D

He means 2027. There is no title or formal release date yet, but it is an encouraging sign that the band is building on its anniversary year.

Another 2027 engagement is confirmed: Better Than Ezra & Friends with the Nashville Symphony on May 13 and 14 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Tommy talks about string and horn arrangements and wonders how songs including “At the Stars,” “Under You,” “A Lifetime” and “Closer” might sound with an orchestra. He is discussing possibilities with me, not announcing a setlist.

Why Tommy calls the ’90s “the last great decade”

When I ask why so many people remain attached to Better Than Ezra and the music of the ’90s, Tommy goes back to how bands recorded. Players rehearsed, knew their parts and worked through songs before entering the studio. He hears that preparation in the records.

“There’s a bit of realness to the ’90s music.”

—Tommy D

Tommy does not dismiss new technology, including AI; he sees it as another tool musicians can use. Yet he remembers something particular about growing up and playing music before every show was recorded on a phone.

“The ’90s was the greatest decade that was never recorded on a cell phone,” he says. Then he adds:

“It’s the last great decade in my opinion.”

—Tommy D

Those words take me back to the nights I spent with the band in St. Louis and Indianapolis—moments that live in memory more vividly than they would on a screen.

Onstage now, Better Than Ezra has added a fifth musician to cover additional parts, giving Tommy more freedom to connect with the crowd.

“Soundwise, we’ve never sounded better and we’re having fun.”

—Tommy D

That fun, he says, is part of why the band is still together.

The Stranger Things machine that started a business

Tommy is home after weather cancels Better Than Ezra’s Oceans Calling appearance. Instead of traveling, he is working on pinball machines. He has loved the games since childhood, but a Stranger Things machine he spotted in a trade magazine brings that interest back into focus while he is doing film and television work in New Orleans, including location scouting for NCIS: New Orleans.

“I was looking for a Stranger Things game.”

—Tommy D

That search connects him with Melissa and Chris at CoinTaker in Pennsylvania. They turn out to be Better Than Ezra fans, and what starts with a single game becomes a business relationship. Tommy now runs Pinstar NOLA, selling and customizing pinball machines and renting them for events.

He tells me he also has games available to play in 10 New Orleans locations, including breweries, restaurants and bars.

He calls it a hobby that has become much more than a side hustle. It is a story that starts with a game based on a show celebrating the ’80s, another decade whose music helped shape Better Than Ezra.

What’s in the glass? Tommy gives me an assignment

With Bourbon & Beyond bringing the band to Kentucky, I ask what Tommy wants to taste. He laughs and puts the question back on me:

“I’m gonna lean on you to advise me.”

—Tommy D to Tom Fischer

I can work with that. Tommy likes Woodford Reserve and recalls Gentleman Jack and Bulleit backstage. I bring up Jefferson’s, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Green River, Buffalo Trace and Eastern Light Distilling as we talk about whiskey to explore in Kentucky. I tell him I will make him a list. We are talking possibilities, rather than confirming a pour from every name at the festival.

That sends us back to our 2006 interview, when Ketel One was on the rider and we shared a bottle backstage. The pre-show drink has changed. Tommy says the old vodka-and-energy-drink combination left them with racing hearts and sleepless nights. These days, flavored sparkling water such as LaCroix is more likely to join the vodka. Tito’s is on the rider, though sometimes the bottle stays closed.

Twenty years later, we can still talk about what is in the glass. We just have a little more respect for the morning after.

See Better Than Ezra at Bourbon & Beyond 2026

Better Than Ezra is scheduled to play the 100 Proof Stage Sunday, September 27, from 5:20 to 6:05 p.m. Eastern. Check the official festival schedule for any changes.

Tommy ends our conversation with a message to the fans who keep showing up:

“We like what we do. If you guys like it, keep on coming. We’re going to keep on doing it.”

—Tommy D

After 20 years of conversations and shows, I believe him.

Two milestone albums are getting their due, “Song of the Summer” is in the live set, and if recording goes as Tommy hopes, another Better Than Ezra album may follow in 2027.

Watch my complete Tommy D interview and visit Better Than Ezra’s website for tour information.