Counting Crows and Emiliana Torrini

The group was originally comprised of acoustic duo Adam Duritz and guitarist David Bryson. They spent their early musical career playing coffee shop gigs in San Francisco. The two were interested in recording demos as a band and additional members bassist Matt Malley, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, and drummer Steve Bowman completed the beginnings of what would be Counting Crows. The band’s name alludes to the British nursery rhyme “One For Sorrow.”

The year 1993 became a turning point for the band. First they were asked to perform at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony as a last minute substitute for Van Morrison. Later that year Counting Crows was signed to Geffen Records and released their debut album “August and Everything After.” They supported the album by joining tours with Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, and the Cranberries. The album’s single “Mr. Jones” exploded on the airwaves and the video became widely requested on MTV. The album stayed on the charts for an impressive 93 weeks starting in 1994. The acknowledgement led them to tour with the Rolling Stones during that same year.

With the addition of drummer Ben Mize and guitarist Dan Vickrey, Counting Crows released their sophomore album “Recovering the Satellites” in 1995. It reached No. 1 in 1996 and songs like “A Long December” and “Have You Seen Me Lately” became hits. Counting Crows has had success in the film industry. Their song “Accidentally in Love” was featured on the animated film “Shrek 2”’ soundtrack and they received nominations for a Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe Award for their contribution.

Counting Crows cites Van Morrison, R.E.M., Mike + The Mechanics, Nirvana, Bob Dylan, and Nirvana as their musical influences.

Emilíana Torrini began singing at an early age as the member of several different choirs. Her Italian heritage and her raw talent lead the young singer and her soprano voice toward opera, which she studied formally from the age of 15.

After finishing her musical education, Emilíana Torrini found herself drawn towards commercial rather than operatic singing. An initial compromise was her time spent as a member of the Icelandic artistic group GusGus. The group was an acting and musical collective, but became well known throughout Iceland for their electronic music. Emilíana Torrini contributed extensively to the group’s 1997 album “Polydistortion”.

Other successful collaborations followed for Emilíana Torrini after her work with GusGus, and the singer found her song writing skills in demand by pop princess Kylie Minogue. Emilíana Torrini co-wrote the songs “Slow”, which went to number one in multiple countries including the UK, and “Someday” from Kylie Minogue’s 2003 album “Body Language”. In addition to her work with Kylie Minogue, Emilíana Torrini is credited with having written songs for the band Thievery Corporation and has contributed vocals for artists such as Paul Oakenfold.

Emilíana Torrini has released eight solo studio albums since 1995 and has achieved two number one songs in her native Iceland with tracks “To Be Free” and “Jungle Drum”. Her indie pop sound is energetic and infectious and her song-writing abilities are vast. This combination of talent definitely explains her success as both a solo artist and as a creative collaborator, and it is almost certain that her work will shine within the music industry for quite some time to come.