Five years after joining the Counting Crows, drummer Jim Bogios is finally comfortable enough to admit it: He plays tennis when he’s on tour.

“I’m actually bridging the gap between tennis and rock ‘n’ roll,” he says over the phone.

Indulging in embarrassing hobbies is an important part of touring for Bogios, 39. He and the other six members of the Berkeley-based pop-rock group recently began a six-month tour for their new album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, released in late March. The album, a 20-track endeavor separated onto two discs with the harder, faster rock songs on Saturday Nights and the mellower, acoustic ballads on Sunday Mornings, is the band’s first studio recording since 2002’s Hard Candy. It’s Bogios’ first studio album with the Crows, period. “It’s really a big deal for me,” Bogios says, “You want to leave your mark on the band, and I think I gave the band the kick in the butt that it needed.”

The recording process was a grueling period. Recording the album’s first half was complicated by a harsh New York winter and a flu that cycled through the band. Lead singer Adam Duritz pushed Bogios to be creative for the acoustic half of the album, encouraging him to search for softer percussion alternatives. On one track, for example, Bogios plays on nothing but a book. On another, he simply stomps the ground. “There was the pressure and the challenge of coming up with the right part and just making the song happen,” Bogios explains, “You don’t want to over-think it, but these recordings are forever.”

And joining the Counting Crows was equally challenging, as it required Bogios to learn every song they played live. As if that wasn’t enough, he also had to be ready to adapt to Duritz’s penchant for improvisation throughout their live sets. “At first I’m just trying to catch up, and Adam is changing the set list everyday, ” Bogios says. As time went on, Bogios picked up on the telltale signs Duritz gave that he was going to change a song around, such as his head or hand motions. “My cues come from all of his mannerisms,” Bogios says, “It’s like you’re following some sort of a dancer or a stage act, he’s so expressive.”

He also found that the singer’s turbulent demeanor onstage came coupled with his turbulent demeanor off; Duritz suffered severe – and public – bouts of depression and was diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder in the period between Hard Candy and their latest release. “The way we dealt with it is we’re not working and we’re just taking time off,” Bogios says. “He was dealing with his issues. Probably some good songs came from that, too.”

But the time off was difficult for Bogios especially, as this was the first time in nearly a decade that he couldn’t just go and find another gig. “It’s different being in a band because you share the good and the bad,” Bogios explains, “When you’re off (as a sideman) and things are bad, you go and do something else. I can’t sub out of Counting Crows. Your hands are tied, so it was really frustrating for me.”

Confounding Bogios’s nervousness was the fact that this would be his first major contribution to the band’s musical catalog. “Everyone’s going to compare you to the other players,” he says, “You don’t want to be on the crappy Counting Crows.” But for all of Bogios’ apprehensions, a lack of experience wasn’t one of them. Years before joining the band, Bogios had established himself as a professional sideman, recording with Prince, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards. In addition, Bogios performed for Sheryl Crow, with whom he got his first big break in 1996.

“They’re like my second family,” Bogios says of Crow and her supporting band. Bogios formed a bond with Crow over the eight years he performed with her, and would often seek her advice when he received offers during their time off-tour. One such offer came in 2001, when Ben Folds asked Bogios to drum for his Rockin’ the Suburbs tour. Bogios had auditioned for the part, and was called back to meet and play with Folds. “We just started playing and it was one of those things that was just right, and you can’t totally put your finger on it,” Bogios says. “In the fourth hour he just looks up from his glasses and says, ‘Uh, you have the gig if you want it. You know that, right?’ ”

After a few years of regimented playing for Crow, Bogios was pleased by the flexibility that touring with Folds allowed him. Unlike Crow, who required Bogios to learn the drumlines to songs and stick to them, Folds encouraged Bogios to bring more of his own creativity to the sets. “Ben just kept pushing me to be me. It just reminded me of why I started playing music in the first place,” Bogios says, “By the end of tour, we ended shows with Ben on drums and me up front rapping.”

When his stint with Folds ended, Bogios reprised his drumming role for Crow, and played with her for two more years before he was offered a part in the Counting Crows. Though Bogios enjoyed his work for Crow, he was sick of being a sideman, so he went to his frontlady for advice. “I told her I wouldn’t even consider it if I wasn’t going to be a band member,” Bogios says. Crow told Bogios that she wouldn’t be touring for some time, and encouraged him to go and try out a role in the Counting Crows. If it didn’t work out, she said, he was invited to rejoin her later.

“So basically I’m going to play with the Counting Crows, and I’ve got the Sheryl Crow thing to fall back on,” Bogios says. For now, though, he looks forward to his upcoming tour as well as his upcoming wedding in May to his girlfriend of three years.

“You gotta recognize when life is kicking butt,” he says, “And this is definitely one of those times.”