Adam Duritz and Adam Levine, of Counting Crows and Maroon 5 respectively, seem to hit it off quite well, which is partly why they're on tour together, playing the Post-Gazette Pavilion tonight.

Adam Levine, left, of Maroon 5, and Adam Duritz of Counting Crows.

I did my best to sabotage the whole thing with a harmless question asked of Duritz during a recent teleconference with the media. It's sparked a lively discussion between them about the importance of vocal maturity. Note that at one point, Duritz mistakes my voice for Levine's.

The question:

"I think if you ask people what their favorite Counting Crows record is, a lot of them would probably say 'August and Everything After.' I was wondering if that was yours as well or if not, what would be?"

The response:

Duritz: I don't really have one. It's like favorite songs to me, they're kind of like, "You like your elbow or your knee better?" They're all part of me. I made them because I felt a certain way. Generally, [it's] the one I'm on at the moment. It definitely isn't the first one, though, because I think it's the one record where I wasn't a good enough singer yet. The songs on it are great but I can't help but look at some of ...

Mervis: Singer? Come on ...

Duritz: No, at the time I wrote that record the band was very new; there's like five songs on that record out of 11 where I think they're great songs and I can't help thinking how much better I sing them now than I did then. You know what I mean? I don't have that kind of feeling about anything on any other record. I sing them differently on other records, but there's some songs where I didn't fully understand the song then.

Levine: Can I interrupt you in your own thought for one second? ... Sometimes that's what makes it really great is that you didn't know it that well and that it was some sort of weird naive approach. You know what I mean?

Duritz: Maybe, I don't know, the problem is for me like I think ... "Anna Begins" is one of the best songs I've ever written and I'm sure I sing it way better nowadays. I just didn't fully understand what I was saying. I wrote it knowing, it's ... subconscious writing. I got the song right, but there's a big, big difference between having a good voice and being a good singer. Communicating stuff from your heart to your mouth is a whole different art. ...

Levine: I like the sincerity of it. When you don't know what you're doing to ...

Duritz: Oh, I don't think that's true. Life's not accidental. I think you can be inspired by moments but art is absolutely a mixture of craft and inspiration.

Levine: I agree with that.

Duritz: Every great artist will tell you that. Picasso used to say all the time I can tell who went to art school and who didn't. He always said over and over again the reason he was able to go off and do what he did, he knew the fundamentals so well that he was able to know to break all the rules because he knew the rules, that craft is a huge part, it's inspiration ...

Levine: I agree with that, I'm just busting your [expletive] because I think that that record is really great and I think that now that we've made a second record I can start to feel that because when you only have one thing to live by it's all you got, but there's something that I wish I still had.

Duritz: I didn't even realize I was just arguing with you then.

Mervis: This is the argument that's going to blow the whole tour ...

Duritz: That's the biggest argument we've ever had, man.

Levine: No, but I want to hear that because it really is interesting, I love knowing about that stuff.

Duritz: That's the only one where I feel like I just was really new at doing it and I was really stressed out at making a record. There's like four songs that I just feel like I could have done them better. I can't remember which four they are, it's like it's the only record I have, the record is perfect in my mind in that it's exactly what I wanted it to be when we made it. We didn't cut a corner, we didn't stop before we thought it was done and have any regrets, not that way. The record is exactly what I wanted it to be when we finished it, but I do look at a few songs on it and think I can sing those better now -- not differently but better.

Levine: Doesn't that always happen to you though? Don't you ... I always feel like when I sing them on a record they're like half there and then once you get two years into touring you're like "Oh, I can sing this song now, finally."

Duritz: I feel like they're different now; I don't have the same kinds of interesting regrets. I go back and listen to the other records more often and I'm surprised by the rawness of the emotion, like, "Wow, when I was really in the middle of that happening, that was really, that's creepy or that's powerful"...

The show is at 7 p.m., with Sara Bareilles. Tickets are $39.50 to $125. Call 412-323-1919.