By Brad Hundt, Staff writer

bhundt@observer-reporter.com

It's only a slight exaggeration to say that the band Live is spending as much time in Pennsylvania ballparks this summer as Jason Bay or Freddy Sanchez.

The York natives played July 3 at PNC Park, after the Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, and they'll be playing Washington's Consol Energy Park and the minor league ballparks in Erie, Altoona and Allentown on their summer tour with Counting Crows.

This isn't the first time Live has toured with Counting Crows - the two bands had a joint outing in the summer of 1999, which Live lead singer Ed Kowalczyk said was "fantastic" and prompted the band to tune their instruments and gas up their bus.

"We weren't planning on touring much this summer," Kowalczyk said by phone from Alberta. "We were going to kinda lay low, make it a creative time, and we got the call. We had so much fun last time."

Live has been an ongoing concern since the late 1980s, when Kowalczyk, Chad Taylor, Chad Gracey and Patrick Dahlheimer met and began playing together in junior high school. Heavily influenced by U2 and REM, the band's greatest success was the 1994 set, "Throwing Copper," which sold 8 million copies and spawned the hit singles "I Alone" and "Lightning Crashes."

Their sales and radio play have tapered off considerably in recent years, so Live has looked for alternative ways to get their name and music out there. Playing to crowds after baseball games is one, and they also logged an appearance on "American Idol" last year, backing finalist Chris Daughtry on a version of "Mystery," from the band's 2006 "Songs From Black Mountain" album.

"There was a heightened awareness about us," Kowalczyk said. He added that it was an opportunity to "just connect with people who had never heard of the band or only heard a few songs."

Next on the agenda for Live is, in fact, a live album. They're also eyeing a spring 2008 release date for their next studio album, though nothing has been recorded yet.

In the meantime, the tour with Counting Crows is "an opportunity to change it up for us, and use the road as part of the creative process."

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