Gang of Youths have asked Adam Duritz to sing on some new songs the Australian band are working on, the Counting Crows frontman has revealed.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Rolling Stone Uncut podcast, the 61-year-old songwriter, who has a close relationship with the Sydney band and sung on their 2022 album, Angel in Realtime, said he was recently contacted by Gang of Youths frontman David Le’aupepe.
“Dave texted me like, I guess it’s like three or four days ago now, right before I left [for Australia],” Duritz said in the interview.
“They’re working on some new stuff. He wants me to sing on some things.”
Duritz said he didn’t know how far along Gang of Youths are in the anticipated follow-up to Angel in Realtime, only that they are “just writing”.
“I don’t know how far along they are, but he said, ‘You want to sing on some stuff?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely’.
In the podcast, Duritz explained how he and the band struck up a friendship after meeting backstage at a New York show some years ago. They bonded so much that the Sydney group spent Christmas at Duritz’s house that year, which eventually led to the collaboration on Angel in Realtime.
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He also revealed that hearing that album inspired him to rework Counting Crows’ 2025 LP, Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets!.
“I got home, and a few weeks later, David sent me what they had, and I was like, ‘This is better. It’s much better.’ And I’ve never done it before in my entire life,” he said.
“It wasn’t like I trashed a lot of it. I rewrote the choruses for ‘Under the Aurora’. I tightened up ‘Spaceman and Tulsa’. I didn’t change anything on ‘Virginia Through the Rain.’
“It was kind of a really lucky thing to me because hearing my friend’s record, I thought, ‘Oh, good. You know what? This is the level I’m supposed to be working at. This is not quite there. I’m going to go back and work on it.’”
Counting Crows will kick off their New Zealand and Australia tour next week in Auckland.
They were also booked as one of the headlining acts for Bluesfest 2026 before its cancellation last week. Speaking to news.com.au after the announcement, Duritz said it could harm international artists coming to Australia.
“That’s going to be devastating for a lot of people’s bottom line because you set up a tent pole like Bluesfest, where for a lot of people, it’s probably the highest paying gig on the tour,” he said.
“And then it just goes, especially when it goes in this way.”
He continued: “There’s all these bands coming, and if you’re Buddy Guy or you’re the Wailers or you are the Black Crowes, none of those bands are making a gazillion dollars right now touring.
“And you plan a trip to Australia, you’re going to be barely breaking even or losing some money on the regular gigs, and then this comes along and you lose the tent pole which was the big money maker that made it okay to come down here.
“That spreads out to the other promoters who have got all these gigs planned (around Bluesfest).
“We’re not going to cancel, but I bet some people will cancel their entire tours.”
