The likes of Mariah Carey and Michael Bubl\u00e9 have been defrosted for their seasonal reign over radio stations. Yes, it must be the Yuletide season, but now some new players are ready to bring 1990s-style Christmas cheer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Griffin, Better Than Ezra\u2019s lead vocalist and one-third of festive supergroup Ezra Ray Hart, reveals his recipe for the perfectly baked Christmas hit to Orlando Weekly<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFirst thing is imagery. Part of Christmas songs is nostalgia \u2014 \u2018chestnuts roasting on an open fire\u2019 \u2014 any lyric that can conjure up nostalgia for family, Christmas, being together, food, presents and children. You also want to honor some of the greats. Christmas songs have very complex chord progressions because they were written by jazz musicians and stuff \u2026 lyrics, too, and pushing those emotional buttons, raising the bar due to what\u2019s already been written.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a formula, sure, but it\u2019s one that can work beautifully under ideal circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re writing a Christmas song, the bar is lowered on \u2018Is this cool enough?\u2019 You kind of throw coolness out the window, and you\u2019re just like, \u2018Is this fun? Is it nostalgic enough?\u2019 When you can remove all the things that make you second-guess a song when you\u2019re writing it, then it\u2019s a really pure expression of songwriting,\u201d Griffin adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Griffin, along with Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Emerson Hart of Tonic, will be comin\u2019 to town under their joint banner, Ezra Ray Hart, later this month. The trio fatefully came together after a private client booked the three of them for a show in Little Rock, Arkansas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt started off as doing privates as sort of this \u201990s hits supergroup juggernaut, and now it\u2019s turned into a tour. So it\u2019s really been organic the way it started and the way it\u2019s growing into doing a fully fledged tour like we\u2019re bringing to Orlando,\u201d Griffin says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ezra Ray Hart\u2019s first headlining tour promises \u201990s hits and Xmas riffs, blending each member\u2019s charting catalog. \u201cThis show, by design, is gonna put a smile on your face from start to finish. Every song that we play, you\u2019re gonna know. We do Tonic hits, Sugar Ray hits, Better Than Ezra hits. Then we do covers from your favorite \u201990s bands, whether it\u2019s Blur or Chumbawamba or Marcy Playground or Third Eye Blind \u2014 it\u2019s gonna be a \u201990s deep dive,\u201dpromises Griffin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Haters will say November is too soon to be listening to Christmas music. But Griffin believes that it\u2019s not too early to get into the holiday spirit. \u201cI think from Nov. 15 on it\u2019s fair game. It\u2019ll be the Yuletide season, and then by Nov. 30, when we descend upon Orlando, we\u2019re gonna be in full swing. Thanksgiving will be over and it\u2019s Christmas time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Griffin hints at the presence of Christmas inflatables, but believes the rest is a surprise for fans to unwrap at the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a full lighting package with the sing-along lyrics, you know, old big-screens,\u201d says Griffin. \u201cWe really raided Costco of every great tacky Christmas decoration we could find. I can\u2019t give you all the secrets, you just gotta come see it for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Griffin says that Ezra Ray Hart\u2019s holiday tour is not just for OG fans of Better Than Ezra, Sugar Ray or Tonic. Their lineup of Christmas staples and throwbacks is sure to entertain both longtime fans and younger ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are gonna check every box for what you want. It\u2019s gonna be fun. We\u2019re gonna be dancing, there\u2019s silliness involved, there are sing-alongs involved and there\u2019s crowd participation. We\u2019ve really spent a lot of time dialing in what we think is an incredible show with \u201990s hits and Christmas riffs,\u201d Griffin promises.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Ezra Ray Hart: 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30; The Plaza Live , 425 N. Bumby Ave.; plazaliveorlando.org<\/a>; $56-$168)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n This article appears in Nov. 12-18, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p>