WITH a classic sound that lies comfortably between the heartfelt music of Van Morrison and Bruce Springsteen, the Counting Crows are among the most intelligent and listenable acts in modern rock.

There aren’t many debut discs that have had the impact of this band’s 1993 “August and Everything After” – which launched a fleet of roots-rock imitators and raised the musical standards of the time.

Seven years and three albums later, this San Francisco outfit has evolved with an increasingly layered, less acoustic sound, as heard on their latest, “This Desert Life.”

Lead singer Adam Duritz is an easy man to speak with, offering personal details of his life in his attempts to help you understand why he and the band are the way they are.

He’s also quick with a funny story. When asked what he learned when the Counting Crows toured with the Rolling Stones, Duritz recounted how Keith Richards reprimanded him for drinking chicken soup to cure a cold and instead gave him a Guinness.

Duritz also shared Ron Wood’s worldly advice to all rockers: “Be really antisocial, do a lot of heroin and get out of Rod Stewart’s band.”

The Counting Crows sweep the area with shows in Saratoga on Monday, Jones Beach on Aug. 18 and 19 and the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey on Aug. 22.

Post: You just turned 36. When you clicked with “August” back in ’93, a lot of people thought you were an overnight success. How long were you at it?

Duritz: I was 27 the first time anybody wanted to hear me; I was 29 when “August” came out. Success may have been more manageable because I was older. Still, I was pretty insane when this all happened, but I was a lot more insane before.

Post: What changed in your life to make you less insane?

Duritz: I had the worst thing in the world happen to me, I lost my mind. I couldn’t function in the real world. No joke. It wasn’t like I had a bad day or something. I lost my mind; it didn’t work.

Post: When did you notice?

Duritz: I woke up one morning with an acid flashback that lasted a year. If you’ve ever done any drugs and had a paranoid reaction, it’s terrible. I hadn’t done any drugs in a while at that point because I was already having these reactions. Then I had the flashback that lasted a year. The horror and fear of feeling that you’re in a tiny box for a year are shattering.

Post: This is what focused you?

Duritz: I was a kid who had all this potential and no drive. In this period, I came to a realization that I was completely screwed unless I became independent and fixed the problems in my mind.

Post: When did you decide you wanted to be a musician?

Duritz: I wanted to do something where I could show off, since I was tiny. I didn’t write any songs until I was 18. I taught myself to play piano, more or less. Since I was 13, I’ve been playing piano, I’m not great; I just sort of plug away at it until I figure out the song.

Post: What is the goal of a good song?

Duritz: I’m trying to write something that hooks in your head – in a way that I like. But the truth is, what hooks in the minds of the majority of America may not be my songs this year. One year, you’re going to be the center of the universe – if you’re lucky. The next year, you won’t be.

Post: Where are you in relation to the center now?

Duritz: We’re good enough and people are devoted enough to us that even though were on the fringes of the universe, we’re still selling over a million records.

Post: The money is better at the center, but it’s less intense at the fringe. What do you prefer?

Duritz: I was unable to handle big success when it happened. I’m much better adjusted to it now. I’m probably more famous now than back then, but the 14-year-old-girl mania was stronger then. What it was like for me when we hit is probably what it’s like for *NSYNC now.

Post: How has the band evolved?

Duritz: We’ve grown musically by leaps. For me “Recovering the Satellites” is completely different from “August.” On “This Desert Life,” we have gone into an area sonically that has incredible complexity.

Post: What are the differences to listen for?

Duritz: We’re using bigger guitars and louder drums, and place those elements in contrast to the quiet stuff – sometimes from song to song, sometimes within songs. We knew that on “This Desert Life” we didn’t want to remake one of our old albums. We love that first album, at least I do, but it is also my least favorite.

Post: Why?

Duritz: When we made that album, we had just gotten together as a band. We could barely play together, so we made a quiet album so we could hear each other. What I love about making records are the moments that you discover things, and that album is full of discoveries. I think that album is so inviting to people because as musicians we are opening up to each other, and it can be heard.

Post: Are there still discoveries to be made?

Duritz: Sure. On this album, we only had one song written before we started recording. That’s how we tried to get the sense of discovery on tape again.