Ravinia 2019, Issue 2, Week 4

Counting Crows last played Ravinia in 2014, supporting its most recent album, Somewhere Under Wonderland . In a matter of mere moments speak- ing with Duritz, he comes across as kind, super chill, and locked firmly in the present, while also seeming humble and unimpressed with Counting Crows’ stratospheric accomplishments that in- clude selling over 20 million albums and amassing multiple Grammy nomina- tions, alongside an Academy Award nod for the smash “Accidentally In Love” from Shrek 2 . Unsurprisingly, he’s never been a fan of fame either, though he’s managed to find just the right formula to unplug from the bright lights and hype, which surely adds to that down- to-earth demeanor. “I had a hard time at first to be sure,” Duritz recalls. “I really struggled adjust- ing to that, and it’s just very strange for someone like me. Everybody thinks they want to win a popularity contest, but it was strange for me. When I left LA, I started to be a lot more careful of what I started to do in public. I’ve sort of avoid- ed award shows. We’ve been nominated for a lot of awards in our career and almost never been there. It just never really appealed to me. I don’t do a lot of the public stuff that way. I just realized I didn’t like it as much as I thought it would, and in order to live my life the way I wanted to, I needed to get out of that and live a regular life. I think I’ve really tried to do that ever since then.” BOWING OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT brought his musical calling into sharper focus, which follows in the footsteps of an influence pool that includes the laud- ed likes of Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., and The Band. In fact, sur- rounding himself with the sounds and attitudes of those fierce individualists whose artistic evolution was always the priority perhaps help inform comments that could come across as apathetic towards the August and Everything After anniversary and the “25 Years and Counting” tour title. “The anniversary is meaningless to me,” Duritz says matter-of-factly. “The album meant a lot to me when it came out, but years later, our records are all really special to me. I don’t know that 25 years meant anything in particular other than ‘wow, we’re getting old.’ ” Instead Duritz seems more passion- ate remembering the extremely fertile musical ecosystem of the early 1990s, which some might cite as the last true renaissance period before ideas started to endlessly repeat themselves through- out the 2000s. Not only did it introduce rootsy acts such as Counting Crows, The Wallflowers, Sheryl Crow, Blues Traveler, and Dave Matthews Band, but that period also birthed the grunge rev- olution led by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. “It’s not something you really ex- pect to happen. Every once in a while the moment catches you, and it just seemed to have a life of its own really,” Duritz assesses of the simultaneous explosions. “I do think there were a lot of bands playing music like us. The Jayhawks were already there, Teenage Fanclub, The Posies, who were on our label as well, but even Nirvana—I don’t know that Nirvana really became huge because of the grunge. Kurt [Cobain] wrote better songs than everyone else. They had great melodies too. Lyrics that meant something to people and melodies that you couldn’t get out of your head, which I think is the thing that we had in common with them as well. There are a lot of great songs and bands, it’s just a matter of ‘can you write a song that means something to you and that means something to other people?’ and ‘can you put it in a melody and a musical thing that people need to listen to over and over again?’ I think we had PATRICK GIPSON/RAVINIA 18 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JUNE 17 – JUNE 30, 2019