Savannah Door chats with Adam Duritz ahead of Counting Crows Australian tour

Adam Duritz and Counting Crows courtesy of Tonedeaf.com.au

It’s early evening in New York as Counting Crows singer, songwriter, and self confessed music lover, Adam Duritz talks about the making of the band’s sixth studio album, Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation); explaining how the departure from tradition provided the band with a chance to pay respect to some really great music.

“We’ve always liked the idea of doing [an album of covers]” says Duritz. “As a band, we’ve got a long tradition of interpreting other people’s songs and we like doing that because the truth is, there is lots of great music out there.”

Among the tracklisting are tributes to Gram Parsons (“Return of the Grievous Angel”), Travis (“Coming Around”), Big Star (“The Ballad Of El Goodo”), and even the mighty Dylan and The Byrds (“You Ain’t Going Nowhere”).

“I don’t think the only music you can feel like playing is your own all the time. We’re still music fans, we love listening to and playing other people’s music”.

Duritz reveals the making of Underwater Sunshine had some unexpected benefits too, “it was a really good experience for us as a band in ways that we hadn’t even considered or imagined. We played our asses off on the record and it felt great! But we didn’t really realise how great until we got back out on the road and started to play concerts.”

“We’ve always been a really good live band, but all of a sudden, we were just killing it on stage every night,” enthuses Duritz.

“People were saying ‘man, I’m so glad I came tonight because this was the best show you’ve played in years!’ and I’d be thinking ‘well, yeah, but it wasn’t as good as last night’!”

The frontman attributes the band’s rediscovered energy to the work that went into playing the songs for the album.

“The band really stretched out with this record in a way that we wouldn’t have if the songs were just my songs,” he says, “and that really paid off, not just in playing the covers, but [also] in

the re-interpretations of our own songs,” the result being an album and ensuing collection of live performances that really hit the mark.

A truly collaborative effort, the gathering of potential songs for the album yielded some brilliant and unexpected finds, and also, quite fortuitously, provided the opportunity for some new music to make an appearance on the record.

“Immer (Guitarist, David Immerglück) bought in 5 or 6 songs, and one of them was a demo by Coby Brown for a song called “Hospital”, and all it really had on it was acoustic guitar and bass,” says Duritz.

“As I listened to it, I had an idea for how we could do it, so we worked on that song and it actually came out on Underwater Sunshine before it came out on Coby’s own record.”

Speaking with Duritz, the energy and desire he exudes to connect and share with people is palpable. An avid and prolific user of social media, Duritz embraces the opportunity it provides to engage and communicate directly with fans.

“[It’s] not a new thing for me. I remember being on my computer back in the mid-nineties and I found AOL (America On Line),” recalls Duritz.

Noting it “had message boards for all these different bands, including a forum for Counting Crows. So I wrote a couple of things on there and people responded and it occurred to me ‘wow, you could talk directly to your fans, you could get a dialog with your fans right here whereas before, you always had to go through someone like your record company or a radio station.”

“The thing about this media was that it changed the dynamic because it allowed the chance to communicate directly, and that made sense to me,” concludes the singer.

Ever since the mid-nineties, Duritz has actively engaged with social media as a means of connecting with people and to discover new music, striking up friendships with other musicians, bloggers, and fans right across the globe.

Hailing music bloggers as “the last bastion of people really talking about music,” he offers, “for the last 10 or 15 years, a lot of the magazines were writing very ironically and cleverly about what they really hate, and while that’s a lot of fun to read, it doesn’t really help you find good music,” he says.

“But I found out there was this whole indie underground of musicians and bloggers, who were all talking about music they really love, which is what musicians are like.”

Discovering new music is an important aspect of Duritz’s online experience, with he and close friend Ryan Spaulding, developing and touring “The Outlaw Roadshow” – a platform for showcasing emerging bands, predominantly discovered online.

Duritz and co-host Spaulding also prepared the Roadshow for Austin, Texas as part of South by South West (SXSW) festival.

Together, the two hand picked over 30 new and emerging bands to perform during the festival, sharing the music discovery experience with a global audience.

Buzzing about the opportunity, Duritz notes, “[we] get to spend the week hanging out and watching bands, listening to new music, it’ll be awesome!”

Australian fans will soon get the chance to see Counting Crows play some of the songs from Underwater Sunshine at the Byron Bay Bluesfest later this month, followed by a national tour.

The band will then head off to Europe where they will finish the international leg of their tour in the U.K., before heading home to the States.

Speaking candidly about what’s in store for the rest of 2013, Duritz says, “I really want to write this year.”

How so? “I’ve got a number of pieces of music that are not finished songs yet, but they’re in progress, and so I want to come home from this international tour and finish writing those songs and get ready to write a record in the (northern) summer and fall.” Great news for the fans who can’t wait to hear it!

Interview also featured on ToneDeaf: http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/features/interviews/281111/counting-crows.htm

Counting Crows, The Rail Event Centre, Salt Lake City, 4th August 2012

Counting Crows at the Rail Event Centre, Salt Lake City.

I’ll never forget the first time I heard ‘Round Here’. For as long as air still fills my lungs, the memory will be indelibly printed on my brain.

A borrowed copy of ‘August and Everything After’ in hand, I had retreated to my room in what had become a nightly ritual in an ever increasing attempt to cope with the sudden and debilitating loss of my Dad. A father, husband and son unexpectedly taken, ‘August and Everything After’ had indeed come into my life at a time when I was unsure of whether I was allowed to be feeling something other than complete and utter devastation.

As I hit play, I remember becoming instantly absorbed, and within the first 8 bars I was hooked. The simplistic beauty of ‘Round Here’ had given rise to a welcome relief, which I know sounds cliché, still hearing that song for the first time drowned out all the noise in my mind and reached me at a time when I needed it most.

Music was as much my savior and solace back then as it is now, almost 20 years on with ‘August and Everything After’ still holding a very special place in my memory where heartbreak connected with hope. Needless to say, Counting Crows are a staple on the gig list whenever they are in town – which ever town I happen to be in (on this occasion, Salt Lake City).

Our first time at the Rail Event Centre (which essentially, was a big air-conditioned shed – predictably located near the rail line, down town), this gig was as much anticipated as it was needed. Admittedly a little home sick, I was in search of a pick-me-up in the form of a well constructed song and who better to deliver said medicine? No argument here!

For its ‘pool hall’ appearance outside, Rail Event Centre was surprisingly contemporary inside with easy front-and-centre access and a mezzanine level shouldering the stage for those who desired a better vantage point (and also, a mixed drink… strange liquor laws prevent the consumption of spirits at ground level, or so I’m lead to believe…). The lights went off around 9:15 with the band appearing soon after. Opening with ‘Rain King’ to a small (by Melbourne terms) but enthusiastic crowd of around 300 people, I remember thinking ‘great choice!’ as the audience became instantly involved, spurring the band on. The energy was sustained into ‘High Life’ which was delivered in true theatric style with Duritz musing to the crowd, at times through conversation, complete with hand embellished gestures. Five songs in, the crowd were still singing audibly to ‘Black and Blue’ with Duritz clearly loving it, occasionally interchanging his vocals for some commendable audience harmonisation. Visibly in his element, he was playing up to the interaction in a really relaxed and comfortable manner.

Loving every second of it, this gig was shaping up to be a great one. Great performance by all members of the band, great crowd interaction and great set list – you name it, this gig had it. Rolling through ‘Anna Begins’ and ‘Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby’, one of the more enjoyable aspects of the evening was how at ease Duritz appeared, almost playful in his relations with the crowd. He was plainly enjoying the performance and the audience were responding accordingly.

Not even rattled by messing up during ‘One More Night in Hollywood’, he took it in his stride, laughing about having to regain his place from the closest bar (preferably not upstairs!). Acknowledging the mistake graciously, the band finished the song in perfect form leaving no hint of the fits of laughter that had stopped it dead during the middle eight.

For me, by far the most anticipated song of the evening was, of course, ‘Round Here’. Coming close to the end of the night, it was unmistakably one of Duritz’ favourites and was performed brilliantly without a hint of self indulgence, even as he dissolved into a stream of consciousness exposing how beautifully flawed and perfectly tortured he really is. At times, almost forgetting the audience was present, Duritz gave the most moving performance of the night with this song and one for which I will be forever grateful. Beautifully emotional, I won’t say it bought a tear. Really, I won’t.

“Come outside, climb out your window before the world gets colder and we get any older, come outside, and run away…”

The band reset the atmosphere after a short break to round out the night with a well chosen encore set, a definite highlight of which was when all 18 musicians (comprising the band and rest of the Outlaw Roadshow) took the stage to give a fantastic rendition of Dylan’s ‘You Ain’t Going Nowhere’ which appears on their latest release. A clear pleaser, the strains could be heard disappearing well into the darkness as the crowd dispersed from the venue into the warm Summer evening…

I must say, this gig totally surpassed my wishes and expectations. A truly excellent and wholly memorable gig, hats off and considerable thanks to Counting Crows for giving such a fantastic performance. Easily up there in my top 3 gigs of all time, Adam Duritz is undeniably a brilliantly gifted and amazing individual. To have even an ounce of his talent would be completely overwhelming and I for one, will forever be in awe. If you ever get the opportunity, you must see Counting Crows live. An absolutely outstanding band and outstanding gig all round, 9 grand pianos out of 10.

http://www.countingcrows.com/

Counting Crows set list:

Rain King
High Life
Four Days
Hospital
Black and Blue
Anna Begins
Mercy
Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby
Children in Bloom
Good Time
Look at Miss Ohio
A Long December
Round Here
Le Ballet D’or
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
Hanging Around