Crowe, of Scottish, Irish, and Manx descent, grew up surrounded by jazz, classical, and rock music, and discovered additional influences on her own such as Ani DiFranco, Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, and Counting Crows.
Crowe mostly performs her own songs, which she has been quoted as saying vary among rock, jazz, and folk, with lyrics and an intensity that has been compared to that of Laura Nyro, Eddie Vedder, Tori Amos, and Patti Smith.