This is Tim Lewis from WBKM.ORG. In 2017 Ryan Cohen and I teamed up to make a live interview and performance series called Live From Robot Dog Studio. We recorded 16 bands and continued the series through 2018. Here is the story of last year.

2018 was a tough year for me, but the joy of music really helped me make it through. In October of 2017 the doctor said that a node in my mother's neck was cancer and she went through radiation treatment in November and December. In January she was home and healing and I felt that we were through the worst of it.

In early January we had the first band in for the year. I had seen Cooie DeFrancesco sing and loved her voice. I'd been curios about Arty LaVigne's other band Radio Underground, so when I heard they were playing together in Bardela, I had to check them out. I loved them and invited them in for a session. It was a fun rocking time from the moment I walked in. The conversation was lively and the music was fine and it felt great to dive into the second season of our series.

A week or so later, we had one of my favorite local bands come in and rock the place hard. The Mountain Says No played one classic, one cool jam and played two of their brilliant new songs. Their powerhouse music filled my soul, which was needed, since my mom was not recovering as expected. I remember being so happy that day.

Mom ended up in the emergency room on a couple of Friday's in January but they couldn't find anything especially wrong either time and sent her home. Around this time Ryan and I put together Live From Robot Dog Studio volume 1. We released it for free on Bandcamp and delighted many bands and fans. It was going to come out on a Friday, but we lit it up early and sent the link to Jordan at 7Days. He put it on his blog and it began getting hits. I was sitting with my mom at her house when I saw what was happening. I showed her the album then headed home to begin promoting the hell out of it on social media. It was the last time I saw mom at home. The next Friday she had an appointment at the hospital and we realized the radiation treatment slowed the growths a little in her neck, but it had spread aggressively into her chest and brain. She stayed in the hospital for a week then made the decision to move to the Vermont Respite House. She was moved in by early February and was happy and pain free for quite some time.

Undaunted by the threat of death, I dove into life and kept going to see music and brought Mr Doubtfire into the studio. Their melodic punk rock was just what the doctor ordered. The conversation was fun and they played great versions of their lovely songs.

At this point, I had done 19 of these shows, so I thought I had a good handle on how they would go. Late in February, The Mountain Carol came in and threw something fun into the mix. They usually play electronic keys and drums but this time they used Ryan's piano and full drum kit. Their music is dark and haunting anyway, but this gave it a different feel and added to my massive appreciation of what musicians will create. They were brilliant.

In March Bad Smell came into the studio. Both Raph Worrick and Jane Boxall are tremendous musicians and their electronic sound was very cool. Raph has that mad scientist thing going and Jane is one of the most amazing percussionists I've ever seen. Their set was odd and fun. Someone had lent my mom a tablet so I was able to show her the video that Ryan put out from the session. The nurses especially enjoyed jamming out to it.

Later in the month I threw Ryan the biggest challenge yet when Mal Maiz came in. With a full nine-piece band Ryan had to set it up with live studio sound since there were not enough headphones, or inputs, to go around. He worked his magic and the band were amazing and the recordings came out great. The interview was really fun since Maiz is so engaging. It was a beautiful night, though I think it was minutes before we started that I got a call from the Respite house saying that my mom's breathing patterns had changed. She passed away on April second.

A few days later Doom Service came in and played a blistering show. The heavy loud melodic music became a focal point that I could hold on to. I impressed myself that I stayed strong and kept the interview focus on the band and I think the results were magnificent.

At he end of the month Carraway came in to play. I'd loved their music for a long time, since it's so catchy and huge and gorgeous. They played a couple of classics and a couple of new songs that were equally great.

I'm trying to remember when Phoebe and Christian began doing regular filming of the sessions, but they have added so much to the videos we are releasing now. I can't thank them enough. Ryan was so smart to bring them in.

In May it was time to really up the possibilities. I had been chatting with a band and they mentioned that there was an offshoot of their band and that we should do a double session with both bands. I liked the idea and Ryan was up for it. The Tsunamibots identify as robots and are into crushing the human race. The Brand New Luddites are humans that will fight the robotic uprising. We had the Luddites play first then the robots came. Warning sirens blared as the Luddites headed out and the robots not only spared my life but promoted me to the office of Prime Minister of Robot Propaganda, so I've got that going for me. We included the whole transition on this album and I hope you really enjoy that piece of musical theater.

A new band had caught my ears recently and I made the invitation and we brought Miku Daza into the studio. They played a blistering show. With a mix of glam, klezmer and punk they've created a cool sound and have played many intense shows. They are so great, and later that year played at GPN.

As summer began, the temperatures soared and some Island music seemed to be the way to go. Steady Betty enjoyed Ryan's AC and played a great show. They did not have much recorded music so I was excited to change that. They had eight members in the band, but Ryan handled the recording easily and made them sound great. They played three classic rock steady covers and one original written by Linda about practicing. We included the original song on this album.

Later in July we mixed things up by bringing Ivamae in on a Friday afternoon. We had always recorded in the evening, but the afternoon worked for everyone and it sounded great. Her songs are heavy and enchanting and it was an amazing session.

In August, I invited another favorite band to come in. Binger are super fluid and write catchy songs that are easy to fall into. They played them effortlessly and were fun to chat with. I was in a happy place for every moment.

One of my favorite local singer songwriters had moved back to Nebraska a couple of years earlier but was back in town for a while. I asked if she would like to come in for a session and I was delighted when she said yes. Hana Zara's songs have lots of power and her lyrics paint images in your eyes. She sang softly and played a ukulele but still sounded huge. The session was pin drop silent and completely magical.

Another perennial favorite band agreed to come and play next. Barbacoa are complete legends and I was elated that they wanted to do one of my shows. I expected them to play as the usual three-piece surf rock instrumental band but they brought Jeff from The Essex Green and played 5 songs with lyrics as a quartet. That threw me for a little loop and I could not have been happier.

Until now, I had brought in all of the bands, but in September Tony from WBKM asked if Preece could do a show. I loved their music and was up for it and invited Tony to come in too. It was odd to share the interview tasks, but kind of nice too. The band were staggeringly good and played four blistering pop rock songs.

In October another powerhouse band joined us. Seth Yacovone is a local legend for good reason. He's an amazing guitar player and a very good songwriter. His band are rock solid and they played a stunning show. I feel lucky that they wanted to be a part of the series.

In 2017 it was a challenge to book any band in November so I got lucky and set up two shows ahead of time. Milton Busker and the Grim Work came in early in the month and filled the room with gloomy joyous songs. The melodies are so nice and some of the lyrics are a bit dark, but the mix is amazing. I'm so glad they joined us.

I had seen Wren Kitz and his band a few times and they seemed to go in and out of jams and pop songs as they play. I asked if they wanted to do the format that way and they were up for it. They played two sets with the interview in the middle. Each set had a nice pop song then moved into a trippy jam then resolved itself into a cool pop song. We've included the whole first set on this album so have fun tripping out.

In 2017 December was easy to book and I got two bands. In 2018 it began to seem impossible. I asked a few bands and no one could do it. I decided to ask a solo artist and Adrienne Cooper Smith came to my rescue. She played a couple of starkly powerful beautiful songs on acoustic banjo, then plugged in the electric one and played some punk rock. Her set was amazing and a perfect cap to a wonderful year.

Well, that's most of the story. I was able to book Troy Millette on December 28 but that show was broadcast on WBKM.ORG in January of 2019, so we'll save that one for Volume 3.