Counting Crows have a lengthy history of making music on their own terms. It’s a force that has guided them throughout the last more than 30 years, ever since their debut August and Everything After album came out in 1993. Their eighth studio album, Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!, comes out on Friday, June 10, marking their first full-length record since Somewhere Under Wonderland came out in 2014.

For founding member and lead singer Adam Duritz, the more than a decade between projects makes sense.

“It’s a weird album for us because it took the longest time-wise of any record we’ve ever done,” Duritz tells Everything Nash. “It took about four years. But it’s the shortest as far as actual time spent in the studio, which was like two and a half, three weeks. It’s probably less time than any other recording we’ve done, in 20-something days. So it’s weird. It was just interrupted by first a pandemic and then me having a lack of confidence in the last group of songs, and doing some rewriting on them. But every time we got ready to record, we were always so excited that we went in and just ripped through it. It feels very fresh to me, and very us, but it doesn’t really sound like any other records. I’m really happy with it.”

Butter Miracle, Suite One came out in 2021, an EP that became the precursor to the full project.

“I wasn’t sure we knew how to put out records after Somewhere Under Wonderland,” Durtitz acknowledges. “I wrote some of my best material ever on that record. We had a great record company, and it just kind of disappeared, which is partially just what happens at this point in our career. But also partially, I think, a real changing in ways of promotion. It’s not just about working a song to radio anymore. And I felt like we really needed to sort of figure that out. I didn’t want to take a bunch of material that I loved and throw it down a hole where it just disappears.”

It wasn’t until Duritz began writing for what became Butter Miracle, Suite One, that he even felt inspired to write again.

“I didn’t wanna just throw them away,” he explains, speaking of the songs he was writing at the time. “‘Cause if you don’t promote it right, it just kind of disappears. And it’s really hard to even play the songs in concert, if you don’t get them across to your fans. They can be really stubborn about only wanting to listen to old stuff. So it’s hard to play new material. I just didn’t wanna like be frustrated like that.”

Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets! could have come out sooner, if not for the pandemic, which shut the entire world down, bringing Counting Crows’ touring to a complete and sudden stop. But while unable to tour, Duritz heard an album by the Australian band, Gang of Youths, which completely changed how Duritz looked at Counting Crows’ next project.

“They sent me the finished record, and it was so good,” Duritz remembers. “And I realized that my new songs weren’t at that level. They weren’t as good at the stuff on their record. I think maybe I was just rushing because I wanted to finish in the same place I started. So I went back to the drawing board and rewrote ‘Boxcars,’ ‘Spaceman in Tulsa’ and what became ‘Under the Aurora.’ I left ‘Virginia Through the Rain,’ ’cause I thought it was perfect.

“But even after rewriting them — I’ve never rewritten songs like that in my life,” he continues. “I’ve never looked at someone else’s record and thought my record wasn’t good enough. And so I lost some confidence in the songs, and I just sort of sat for two years without even sending them to the band. And then I wrote ‘With Love, From A to Z,’ and I loved it. It was so good. And I thought, ‘Well, okay, I’ve gotta figure out what to do with the other songs now. ‘Cause this song needs to be on a record.'”

 

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The Counting Crows will also kick off their headlining The Complete Sweets! Tour on June 10, at The Pinnacle in Nashville. For a band who spends the majority of their time on the road, Music City is the perfect place to begin etheir next run of dates.

“When you have a town where it’s such a music business town, it ends up being a town where there’s a ton of musicians,” Duritz reflects. “I have friends, a lot of indie musicians I knew in the last 15 years, especially ten years ago, all moved to Nashville. … It’s a pretty vital music city for a lot of people. I love that. I live in one myself. New York’s great that way. But I can see why a lot of people love Nashville. Even if mainstream country’s not my thing, I was brought up on a lot of country music living in Texas when I was a kid. It’s pretty different from Nashville country. But  I like Nashville. I didn’t for years until I realized how great it was to be around that many musicians.”

Counting Crows have a lengthy list of dates on their current tour. But after that, Duritz says it’s possible that a new album could come, without waiting another 11 years.

“We still feel very creative,” Duritz maintains. “None of us are tired of this at all. This record got nothing but good reviews. It got great, great reviews across the board. I don’t know whether anyone will hear it, but if they do, that’d be great. But either way, I suppose we’ll just keep doing it. I don’t have a lot of other plans. I’m not busy other than doing this.”

Limited tickets remain for Counting Crows’ Nashville show. Find all of their music and upcoming shows at CountingCrows.com.

Photo Credit: Mark Seliger