1989
Singer Adam Duritz and guitarist David Bryson are introduced by San
Francisco Bay Area musician David Immergluck and subsequently
begin writing songs together.
1990
Duritz and Bryson perform as an acoustic duo at coffeehouses and
small clubs. They call themselves Counting Crows after an English
divination rhyme.
August 1991
Duritz and Bryson recruit Bay Area music scene friends Matt Malley
(bass), Charles Gillingham (keyboards) and Steve Bowman (drums)
to record a demo. Their chemistry undeniable, they start performing at
San Francisco clubs.
February 1992
Counting Crows perform at a BMI New Music Showcase at San
Francisco's I-Beam club.
April 1992
Counting Crows sign with DGC Records.
June 1992
Counting Crows open for Bob Dylan in Los Angeles.
Fall 1992/Winter 1993
Counting Crows record their debut album, August and Everything
After, at a rented mansion in the Hollywood Hills. They live on the
premises during the sessions.
January 1993
Counting Crows fill in for Van Morrison at the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame induction ceremony.
August 1993
Guitarist Dan Vickrey joins Counting Crows.
Sept. 14, 1993
August and Everything After, produced by T-Bone Burnett (Elvis
Costello, Los Lobos, Roy Orbison), is released.
November 1993
Rolling Stone calls August and Everything After "one of the best rock
releases of the year" and gives it a four-star review.
Fall/Winter 1993
Counting Crows tour, opening for Midnight Oil, Suede and The
Cranberries.
January - June 1994
Counting Crows tour, opening for Cracker.
January 1994
August and Everything After enters the Billboard Top 200 album
chart.
January 1994
Counting Crows appear on "Saturday Night Live."
April 1994
August and Everything After peaks on the Billboard 200 at No. 4. Its
chart run will last 93 weeks.
Summer 1994
Counting Crows headline tour of theaters. Duritz invites his personal
favorites to open the shows, including Alex Chilton, Buffalo Tom,
Chainsaw Kittens, Velocity Girl, The Cox Family, Dog's Eye View
and The Gigolo Aunts.
August 1994
Counting Crows join The Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge Tour as
special guests.
September 8, 1994
Counting Crows win MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist
in a Video, for "Mr. Jones."
September 13, 1994
"Going Back to Georgia," a duet featuring and co-written by Duritz
and Nanci Griffith, appears on Griffith's album Flyer.
October 12, 1994
Drummer Ben Mize replaces Bowman.
Winter 1994
Counting Crows tour Europe.
January 1995
Counting Crows win American Music Award for Favorite Artist,
Alternative Music.
May 1995
Counting Crows begin writing material for Recovering the Satellites.
July 18, 1995
Counting Crows' cover of The Psychedelic Furs song "The Ghost In
You" appears on the soundtrack to the film "Clueless."
Winter 1995/1996
Recovering the Satellites is recorded in another big Hollywood house
on a hill, with the band again choosing to reside on the premises.
Oct. 8, 1996
Recovering the Satellites, produced by Gil Norton (The Pixies, Echo
and the Bunnymen, The Mieces, Del Amitri), is released on vinyl as a
double album.
Oct. 15, 1996
Recovering the Satellites is released on cd and cassette.
Oct. 20, 1996
Recovering the Satellites debuts on the Billboard 200 at #1.
Oct. 23, 1996
August and Everything After is certified seven-times platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America.
Nov. 12, 1996
U.S. theater tour begins in New Haven, Conn. The band again invites
some of their favorite acts to open, including Cake and Fiona Apple.
Dec. 2, 1996
Duritz seriously injures his knee during opening night of a four-night
stand at New York's Beacon Theatre. Despite intense pain, he
continues the show, and no subsequent performances are cancelled
due to the injury. Duritz undergoes open-knee surgery over the
Christmas holidays.
Dec. 11 and 12, 1996
Counting Crows become first band to appear on the "Late Show
With David Letterman" for two consecutive nights, a first for the
program.
May 3 - June 13, 1997
European Theater tour (beginning in Galway, Ireland).
June 5, 1997
Recovering the Satellites is certified double platinum.
June 21, 1997
Band performs for a half million people at the Blockbuster Rockfest in
Dallas, Texas.
July 1 - Nov. 6, 1997
Band headlines on a summer shed tour. Supporting acts include The
Wallflowers, That Dog, The Gigolo Aunts and Bettie Serveert.
Aug. 12, 1997
Band performs at New York's Chelsea Studios for taping of VH-1's
"Storytellers" series.
Nov. 6, 1997
Counting Crows performs at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom for
taping of MTV's "Live at the Ten Spot" series. Show marks the end
of the band's U.S. tour.
Nov. 26 - Dec. 20, 1997
Second European theater tour.
Dec. 8 and 9, 1997
Counting Crows perform two sold-out shows at London's Royal
Albert Hall.
July 14, 1998
Across a Wire - Live in New York is released.
August 1998
Band begins writing and recording their third studio album with David
Lowery (Sparklehorse, Lauren Hoffman, September 67) and Dennis
Herring (Cracker, Camper Van Beethoven, Throwing Muses)
co-producing ' in yet another house on a hill in Hollywood.
August 1999
The album is titled This Desert Life, and will be released Nov. 2,
1999.
