This summer, Counting Crows will be back on the road for their “25 Years And Counting” tour, celebrating a quarter-century since the release of 1993’s classic debut, August and Everything After. During that time, Counting Crows have maintained a sizable fanbase, even if the band hasn’t always been fashionable or visible in the mainstream.

According to singer-songwriter Adam Durtiz, people might feel differently about Counting Crows now if the band hadn’t been so huge so early in its career — thanks to the success of the smash single “Mr. Jones,” August sold seven million copies and made Duritz a fixture in the tabloids. But that notoriety also made Counting Crows a target for those who quickly tired of their earnest, emotional heartland rock.

Nevertheless, great songs are great songs, and Duritz’s work holds up as well as any artist from the ’90s alt-rock generation. I’ve long been a fan of Duritz’s songwriting, which stayed strong on subsequent albums like 1996’s Recovering the Satellites up through Counting Crows’ most recent album, 2014’s Somewhere Under Wonderland. 

In this episode, Duritz opens up about his career, his beginnings as a songwriter, his feelings about how the media has covered his band, and the stories behind favorites like “Round Here,” “Perfect Blue Buildings,” and “A Long December.”

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