Meet The Band

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."

Seth Fleishman - Guitar and Vocals

Seth Fleishman picked up the guitar at age 12, and has been playing and singing ever since. Seth recalls, "As far back as I can remember, all I wanted to do was play guitar and sing. I'm very fortunate to do what I love for a living."

For the last several years, Seth has been working as a solo performer, and also has performed with The Skid, a Grateful Dead tribute band, and in Reverse Curve, a progressive bluegrass band. His original band, Awry, released two albums before disbanding in 2008.

Since 2005, Seth has taught guitar, bass, banjo, and mandolin at Bill Wright's Guitar Studio in Sparta, NJ.

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.