Adam Duritz, former member of the San Francisco Bay Area band the

Adam Duritz, former member of the San Francisco Bay Area band the Himalayans , and producer/guitarist David Bryson formed Counting Crows in San Francisco in 1991. They began as an acoustic duo, playing gigs in and around Berkeley and San Francisco. Friend David Immerglück played with them from time to time on a variety of instruments, though he was not an official member of the group. As the emerging band recorded some demos , and as other musicians joined the duo to make a full band, Immerglück recorded with the band on some songs for its first album. He declined to join the band, citing his obligations with two other locally popular bands: Monks of Doom and Camper Van Beethoven . By 1993, the band had grown to a stable lineup of Duritz as vocalist , occasional pianist , and primary songwriter , Bryson on guitar, Matt Malley playing bass guitar , Charlie Gillingham on keyboards , and Steve Bowman as drummer , and the band was a regular in the Bay Area scene.