Better Than Ezra Feature-Virginian Pilot

Tom Drummond just turned 45, and he’s pretty excited about his birthday present.

“I’m stoked about the Ninja blender I got,” said the bassist and co-founder of the alt-rock band Better Than Ezra. “I’m going to be whipping up some awesome smoothies for my kids.”

This from a guy who, for years, hosted epic Bloody Mary cocktail parties during Mardi Gras in his native Louisiana.  “That wasn’t a very rock ’n’ roll thing to say,” Drummond said with a laugh during a recent phone conversation from his home in New Orleans.

Perhaps not, but it is a statement that many of the band’s longtime followers can relate to.
“Our fans have grown up with us,” Drummond said. “Some people are even starting to bring their kids to our shows.”

That makes sense, since Better Than Ezra came of age in the mid-’90s, an era that featured an alt-rock heyday when similar acts like Third Eye Blind, Everclear and the Goo Goo Dolls ruled the radio airwaves.

Ezra, which also includes lead vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin and drummer Michael Jerome, is about to debut its eighth studio release, “All Together Now,” and the record’s first single, “Crazy Lucky,” is enjoying a fair share of radio airplay.

“It’s a summertime song, for sure,” Drummond said. “Kevin was a little hesitant to release it because he thought it was a little too poppy, but I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ people like to sing along in their cars with the windows down.”

The trio is sure to perform its new hit when the band plays The NorVa on Saturday night, but Drummond knows the night’s biggest response will certainly come when Ezra launches into its best-known track, “Good.”

Nearly inescapable during the summer of 1995, “Good” was the first single from the band’s major-label debut, “Deluxe.” It reached No. 1 on the Billboard modern rock chart and helped push the album to platinum selling status.

“I asked Kevin the other day how many times he thought we’ve actually played that song. It has to be in the thousands, no question,” Drummond said. “Too bad we don’t get paid by the notes.”
He said the fans still light up when they hear the vintage tune, and he’s all for giving the people what they want. Especially fans in Hampton Roads.

“There was a time period in the late ’90s when Norfolk was probably our biggest market,” says Drummond. “They say Virginia is for lovers, and that certainly has been the case for Better Than Ezra. We always look forward to coming to Norfolk.”

The Head and The Heart Feature-Virginian Pilot

At 22, Tyler Williams found himself in a rundown Seattle rehearsal space with a group of relative strangers.

Empty beer cans and cigarette butts littered the carpet and there were holes in the walls, but it wasn't the decor the musician found troubling from his vantage point behind a well-worn drum kit.

"When I first moved out there, it kind of felt like amateur hour," Williams, a native Virginian, said about the band he traveled cross-country to be a part of. "At first I thought maybe I had made a mistake. It took three or four months to really get to where it felt like maybe there was something there."

In spite of initial misgivings, Williams stuck with The Head and the Heart for two reasons. First, his good friend and former bandmate, Jonathan Russell, was one of its founders. Second, Williams stayed because he believed in the folk-pop act's future.

"The songs were just so good," he said. "There was always something there. We were just kind of like a diamond in the rough that needed polishing-up to be presentable."

It was a rough song that spurred the musician to leave Richmond in the first place. Williams had lived in the state capital for several years and played in the band Silent Film Star with Russell.

After three years with the group, Russell announced he was moving to Seattle. The guitarist and vocalist kept in touch with Williams and one day the drummer received a package in the mail containing the demo of a song Russell had written with The Head and the Heart's co-founder, vocalist and guitarist Josiah Johnson.


"The growth in his songwriting maturity was kind of astonishing," Williams said of his former bandmate. "When we were playing together the songs were no way near the caliber of what I heard on that demo."

Soon, the drummer moved west to join his old friend.

Tonight, they return to the commonwealth for a headlining gig at Harborfest, the annual free maritime festival in Norfolk's Town Point Park.

Just months after The Head and the Heart's initial, inauspicious gathering, the sextet saw a change in its trajectory. In 2009, the group self-released its debut album, which was sold at shows and in local music stores. The disc, packaged in homemade denim sleeves was a melange of harmony-driven roots music and Beatlesesque pop.

After selling more than 10,000 copies, The Head and the Heart had become the toast of Seattle's indie folk scene and was signed to the city's seminal Sub Pop record label, which remastered and re-released the disc in 2011 to critical acclaim.

The band's sophomore album, "Let's Be Still," followed last fall. The disc found The Head and the Heart introducing new elements into its sound, perhaps in an effort to distinguish itself from the rest of the folk rock revival pack that was buzzing around the musicsphere.

"We never really were that band," said Williams of being lumped together in the press with acts like The Lumineers and Mumford and Sons.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

"I love those bands," said Williams. "If our first album had a similar vibe, a lot of that was due to the ability that we had at that time and the constraints that we had on our recording budget. We're definitely trying to break out of that thing."

As evidence, Williams points to the track "Summertime," as an example of how the band has grown. "It's got a synth-y, danceable thing going on," he said. "I think that song takes us to a place that people maybe didn't expect."

But fans of the band needn't worry that The Head and the Heart are blowing up the playbook and veering away from what got it noticed in the first place. The group's storytelling and heartfelt lyrics remain at the core of the band's music.

"I think we keep getting better at crafting deeper songs," said Williams. "And I think we've gotten really good at imbuing our performances with so much passion and energy because we really believe in the songs. We honestly are in the moment every time we play them."

Thirty Seconds to Mars Feature -Virginian Pilot

At one point during the recording sessions for the album "Love Lust Faith + Dreams," Shannon Leto, drummer for the alt-rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars pulled out an instrument from his childhood.
"When we were small, my brother and me used to mess around for hours on this electric music box," he said. "We actually used a lot of vintage instruments on this album. Jared even brought in this old synthesizer he's had since he was 13."

Music was a part of the Leto siblings' lives, long before Jared became an actor known for his movies like "Fight Club," "Requiem for a Dream" or his critically praised role as a transgender person afflicted with AIDS in the current film "Dallas Buyers Club."

"We always had instruments around the house when we were growing up," Shannon Leto, 43, said. "We love to express ourselves through music."

Four years ago, the creative process was not so pleasant.

During the recording of its third studio disc, "This Is War," the band was hit with a $30 million lawsuit by its label, Virgin Records, which claimed breach of contract when the trio attempted to sign with another label.

"Trying to create and express yourself with that gorilla on your back was really challenging," Leto said of the yearlong legal battle. "But I think if we didn't go through that experience we wouldn't have had that album, and we're really proud of it."

"This Is War" proved to be a breakout album for Thirty Seconds to Mars, which performs Thursday at The NorVa. (The show is sold out.) The disc earned numerous music awards, and its first two singles hit the No. 1 spot on Billboard's alternative music chart.

The lawsuit was eventually settled, and in September 2012, "Artifact," a documentary chronicling the legal dispute and the making of "This Is War," won the People's Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The environment in creating "Love Lust Faith + Dreams" was everything its predecessor was not.
"We didn't have anyone setting boundaries on us this time," Leto said. "The atmosphere was much lighter and more optimistic."

Anchored by arena-ready anthems, Thirty Seconds to Mars has fine-tuned its earnest, emotionally charged rock songs with a flourish of positivity.

Even the album's title is a nod to the band's growing holistic posture.

"When the name came up I remember thinking, yes, those are the words that describe the core of life and how we should experience it," Leto said. "You can't have one without the other if you want your life to be in balance. They are all integrated."

The Leto brothers, along with lead guitarist Tomo Milicevic, have clearly grown up since forming the band 15 years ago, but one constant remains, and that's the bond they've formed with their fan base, known as "the echelon."

"We have always said that this band is a shared experience," Leto said. "It's been that way ever since we played our first gig to maybe five or six people at this club called the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Canada. I still remember talking to those people after the show, and there was this amazing feeling of camaraderie.

"We're not one of these bands that play music just for ourselves; we want to play for people, and when they respond, it's really hard to put into words, but there is a spiritual thing that is formed between us."

 

Little Theatre of Norfolk Feature-Virginian Pilot

When The Little Theatre of Norfolk was casting "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)," director Nancy Bloom had to look beyond typical traits like individual talent, charisma or stage presence.

"The cornerstone of this particular show is the relationship the actors have with each other," she said. "The actors we chose just seemed to bring out the best in each other. I can't explain it in words other than you know it when you see it; sometimes people just click."

Improvisation plays a key role in this irreverent, fast-paced condensation of Shakespeare's complete oeuvre, so finding that unique combination of three actors in sync with each other was crucial.

"These actors have an obvious and unique chemistry between them, which, as a director, is something you constantly look for but don't always find. It was exciting to watch the three of them work together."

Of that trio, Jimmy Dragas is the lone Little Theatre of Norfolk alum. Actors Mike Dunavan and Connor Marr have appeared on many local stages but make their LTN debut with this show, which runs at the West Ghent playhouse through Jan. 26.

One of the longest-running plays in London's West End, this madcap send-up of Shakespeare features material from all of the Bard's 37 plays in just 97 minutes. The performance includes dozens of costume changes, several references to pop culture and a hefty dose of audience participation.
"There really is no fourth wall in this show," Bloom said. "The audience is part of the entire program, so it's a unique experience each time. We're doing 12 performances, and if you attend all 12, none of them will have been the same. There's always an element of surprise about what's going to happen next."

That foray into the unknown is one of the things that drew Bloom to the project. The Virginia Beach-based theater veteran is also an actor, last seen in LTN's production of "The Full Monty."
"I have acted in 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare' twice, and it's one of my all-time favorites," she said. "For a performer, improv is so exciting, and this show is fast-paced, clever and really funny."

A mix of pratfalls, puns and parody, "Shakespeare (Abridged)" might make you wonder why anyone would endure the more than 4,000 lines of "Hamlet" when the famous storyline can be told by sock puppets in just 43 seconds.

And who wouldn't want to see "Othello" performed as a rap song or "Titus Andronicus" as a cooking show?

"This play is for people who may be intimidated by William Shakespeare," said Bloom, feigning gravitas in speaking the famous playwright's name.
But make no mistake. While the play interprets the Bard's body of work through a comedic lens, the impact of his handiwork remains in full effect.

"What 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)' really tries to do is initiate those who may not be as familiar with him into the wonderful work he composed," Bloom said. "Yes, it is silly, but it also superbly translates the beauty of Shakespeare's words."