Adam Duritz

Adam Duritz
Duritz on the levee in Saint Louis with Counting Crows
Background information
Birth name	Adam Fredric Duritz
Born	(1964-08-01) August 1, 1964 (age 52) Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Genres	Folk rock, alternative rock, pop rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, record producer, Film producer
Instruments	Vocals, Piano, Guitar, Harmonica
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Capitol Records
Associated acts	Mod-L Society, The Himalayans, Sordid Humor, Counting Crows
Website	CountingCrows.com

Adam Fredric Duritz (born August 1, 1964) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer. He is best known for his role as frontman and vocalist for the rock band Counting Crows, of which he is a founding member and principal composer of their catalog of songs.

Duritz has recorded solo material of his own and has collaborated with other musical acts. He has branched out as the owner of at least two record labels, acting as his own artists and repertoire (A&R) man. His work scoring music for film has been recognized by the music industry, notably with an award for co-writing the song "Accidentally in Love" for the movie Shrek 2 from BMI.

Duritz's lyrics have been described as "morose" and "tortured" and as "wordy introspection" and his vocals "expressive."

Before gaining fame, Duritz sang (and later wrote songs) for a few San Francisco Bay Area bands. These included Mod-L Society and Sordid Humor, a college rock band. While Duritz was not a member, in the early 1990s, two other musicians whom Duritz had not yet met were introduced while working with the band. Duritz had been tapped to provide vocals on one track, and future bandmate David Immerglück (nicknamed "Immy") as a session musician on bass guitar. Producing the album was David Bryson, both of whom became good friends. In 1990, Duritz joined with Bryson, and followed his lead in forming the band, The Himalayans. In the Himalayans, his songwriting talents were beginning to gain recognition from the other musicians and a song, albeit in its infancy, "Round Here" was written at that time. A year later, while The Himalayans recorded a demo tape for a major record label, Duritz and Bryson independently submitted another demo tape of just the two of them singing stripped-down musical selections, and they called themselves Counting Crows. After both tapes were listened to, Duritz and Bryson's tape was selected; they were asked to record the song on their debut album as it was. August and Everything After was the result, containing "Round Here". After they performed as the music guest on Saturday Night Live (SNL), their single "Mr. Jones" jumped 40 spots in the charts.