Personnel Biographies

Tony Krucinski - Drums and Vocals

Tony is the founding member of the band. He started playing music in the early 60's, listening to The Beatles, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams. Throughout his early years he played in bands all over the tri-state area, playing all kinds of music -- from square dance to rock and roll -- and everything in between.

Tony has developed an under-stated, in-the-pocket drum style which enables the band to maintain reasonable volume levels while underlying the music with a driving beat. He sings lead on many of the vocals with a distinctive character and texture to his voice.

All through his musical career, Tony has had the fortune of meeting scores of great people. A Sussex County native for his whole life, one can hardly go anywhere locally without someone knowing Tony from Snake Oil Willie, “the one with the beard.” But the true love of his life is his wife, Janet, whose unwavering support, through good times and bad, has given him “the best years of his life."

John Gaechter - Guitar and Vocals

As a young boy, John first heard the sounds of the accordion when his oldest sister was taking lessons. He knew immediately accordion music was not for him! “Guitar please,” he said, and his parents, although heart-broken, bought him China’s best with deluxe telephone wire strings. Eventually, the finger bleeding subsided and John was making real music with C, D and G7 chords. Immediately John set about learning the music of Herman’s Hermits, The Kingston Trio and other popular bands of the day.

Having since drawn inspiration from the The Allman Brothers to Led Zeppelin, John has become an accomplished guitarist, which becomes evident as soon as you hear him play. At several rock and roll fantasy camps he has played with the likes of Roger Daltry (The Who), Simon Kirk (Bad Company) and Artemus Pyle (Lynyrd Skynyrd).

John sings lead on many of the band's songs, and his command of a strong falsetto voice often adds a ringing high end to the background vocals.

Before joining The Snake Oil Willie Band in September of 2008, John played with several other local bands, including Blue Emerald, Ice 9, and GTF. He is also actively involved recording other local bands.

Neil Sauerwein - Keyboards and Vocals

Neil comes from a musical family where there was always a piano in the house. He studied piano, trumpet and guitar and began playing publicly in elementary school. Neil has played in many popular local cover bands including Hurricane, a short-lived but renowned Neil Young tribute band.

With wide-ranging musical tastes and influences ranging from Amadeus to Zappa by way of Coltrane, King Crimson and Tuvan throat singing, Neil adds rhythms and textures that help to fill out the sounds of Snake Oil Willie. He lives in Sparta and can sometimes be seen riding his bicycle to a gig. He serves on the Sparta Cultural Affairs Committee, promoters of the Sparta Summer Concert series.

Neil has been with The Snake Oil Willie Band since 2006.

Frank DeBonis - Bass Guitar and Vocals

Frank’s musical roots date back to the early 60’s, when he appeared as Pedro the guitar player in Belleville High School’s senior play production of Gidget, an unlikely start for a rock & roll bass guitarist.

Primarily inspired by (and still a big fan of) The Beatles, in the mid 60's he formed a band called The Camel Hair Crayon, which enjoyed modest local renown across northern New Jersey. They once played a venue hosted by the then popular radio personality Murray the K, opening for Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge.

As with Tony, Frank has an under-stated, in-the-pocket playing style that provides the low end to the band's musical soundscape. Conversely, with a higher range to his voice, he gets to sing some of the high-end vocals.

Now retired from a career in the financial services sector of the information technology industry, Frank joined The Snake Oil Willie Band in July of 2008.