Counting Crows guitarist David Immergluck is well aware of how long it’s been since the band last released a studio album.

“It’s astonishing how the music business works now,” Immergluck says. “I don’t know if every band can [do this], but our last record of new material [Hard Candy] came out in 2002.”

Immergluck can laugh at the yawning gap between records because it hasn’t hurt the band’s popularity. Last summer, Counting Crows headlined a summer amphitheater tour with the Goo Goo Dolls. This summer, the band headlines a tour of minor league baseball stadiums with opening acts Live and Collective Soul along for the ride. Not many bands could go so long without new music and return to touring by playing these sort of large venues.

“We’re blessed with having a reputation for being a compelling live act, and we have a devoted following of people that seems to be growing regardless of our record releases,” Immergluck says.

It’s an open question whether Counting Crows will debut any new songs on tour this summer. One reason is the band hasn’t decided what songs to put on the next album.

The group did three recording sessions for their most recent CD. Two were with producer Gil Norton (famous for his work with the Pixies) and captured a hard-rocking collection of songs. A third session with producer Brian Deck involved a set that Immergluck described as “transcendent acoustic songs,” as well as a few more up-tempo songs.

With many more songs than can fit on the CD, the album could go in a number of directions, according to Immergluck.

“We’re sort of sifting through it all now. We’ve got a lot of material,” he says. “Too much material is definitely a top-shelf problem.”