If you were counting Counting Crows when they got started back in 1991, you only had to count as high as two. The group began as the acoustic duo of singer Adam Duritz and producer/guitarist David Bryson. By 1993, the San Francisco-based band grew to include Matt Malley on bass guitar, Charlie Gillingham playing keyboards, and drummer Steve Bowman. That year, Counting Crows also broke through with their debut album, August and Everything After.

Influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and R.E.M., Counting Crows quickly developed a following among rock, alternative, and adult pop audiences. Most of their subsequent studio albums in the 1990s and 2000s landed in the top 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. They’ve sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. Their songs have also popped up in multiple movies and TV shows, including Two Weeks Notice, Shrek 2, and Four Kings.

Over the years, the group saw members leave and new ones join, but Duritz, Bryson, and Gillingham remain at the core of Counting Crows to this day. Their latest release is Butter Miracle (2021), a four-track EP that Rolling Stone described as “a melodic, wistful ode to life on tour, with a sound that somehow manages to bridge the gap between The Band and Mott the Hoople.” Speaking of “life on tour,” you can catch Counting Crows in concert with Dashboard Confessional at Skyla Credit Union Amphitheater in Charlotte on August 1, 2023.

• Mr. Jones (1993)

  This was the song that started it all for Counting Crows. “Mr. Jones” was released in 1993 as the first single from the band’s debut album, August and Everything After. According to Songfacts, the song’s title refers to Marty Jones, who played bass with singer Adam Duritz when they were in a band called The Himalayans. “Mr. Jones” reached the top 5 on multiple U.S. Billboard charts and went all the way to number 1 in Canada.

• Hanginaround (1999)

  Counting Crows opened their 1999 album, This Desert Life, with the happy-go-lucky “Hanginaround.” It was the biggest hit from that album. The song’s chorus was used as the main theme for the 2006 NBC sitcom Four Kings. The video alternates between shots of lead singer Adam Duritz sitting at a bus stop and Counting Crows performing in the living room of a house the band members shared. The band’s real friends appear throughout.

• Big Yellow Taxi ft. Vanessa Carlton (2002)

  Written and originally recorded by Joni Mitchell in 1970, “Big Yellow Taxi” is about humanity’s disregard for the natural environment. Counting Crows covered the song as a hidden track on the band’s 2002 album Hard Candy. After “Big Yellow Taxi” was included on the soundtrack of the rom-com Two Weeks Notice with backing vocals by Vanessa Carlton, Counting Crows re-released the updated version as a single and more prominent track on the revised Hard Candy album. The music video shows Counting Crows performing on the Coney Island boardwalk. Vanessa Carlton sings along as random adults spot younger versions of themselves and loved ones on the streets of New York City.

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