A Musical "Situation" for Rob Crowe and Company

“What’s the situation?” yelled one audience member as the band wrapped up their performance.

Laughing, band leader Rob Crowe replied, “it’s too cold outside!”

Such were the vibes of the performance the 50 or so residents enjoyed Saturday at Mineola Memorial Library. In the library's downstairs auditorium, “The Rob Crowe Situation,” a nine member local band from Williston Park, let the tunes fly, filling the entire building with the sounds of their punky acoustic freeform folk music.

Front man Rob Crowe is on guitar and lead vocals while Jess Crowe dominates most songs with her unique voice. On stage as well are new band mates Frank and Denny (who both only go by first names), two violinists (one of which is the young and captivatingly talented Bianca Gonzalez, who impressed audiences with her many solos), a banjo player and four additional guitarists (some played acoustic guitars, others the bass and still another, an electric guitar).

Will Richardson, who showed up during the middle of a song, is the band's saxophonist. On a temporary hiatus from the band, the group was excited to welcome him back on stage.

The music the Rob Crowe Situation plays spans all genres of folk music. Their sound is described as a freeform blend of country and bluegrass music mixed with soft island acoustic rhythms.

From “32 Degrees,” an up tempo, punkish tune about a dramatic fight between lovers (where Jess even yells, “don’t you talk to me that way!”), to the soft, soothing folk melody of “My Beautiful Girl,” the band pushes themselves to play music of all sorts.

“We’re pretty much an acoustic folk band, whatever that is,” Crowe commented. “Some songs are happy, some songs are sad but all the songs have a deep meaning to me – and to the band.”

Reminiscent of the unpredictability of the 60s rock scene – which served as a clear and strong influence for many band mates – Crowe decided mid-performance that the band would play a song they’d never even practiced together. Without blinking an eye, they began strumming the melody to "Hold Me Love Me," coming together perfectly, without a flub to be heard.

Performing each song in their set with ease, Crowe later commented that “this is why we love performing here, at Mineola Library…because they don’t throw us off the stage! We can just play and play and everyone enjoys it. Usually, we get thrown off the stage when we’re performing in the city.”

With a smile, Crowe added, "we’ve even been kicked out of a few bars, like the Knitting Factory.”