Hailing from Amsterdam, New York, three-piece genre-bending instrumental band, TV Doctors, is a group on the rise. Hot off the heels of their most recent live album earlier this year, TV Doctors continue to make their mark with their unique and intoxicating sound. The upstate trio’s passion for their craft has led them on a mission to play some of the most unpredictable and entertaining live shows in the region.
Who Are TV Doctors?
Comprised of Evan Conway, Bob Morris, and Josh Witmer, TV Doctors was informally created just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After Witmer reached out to Morris, whom he had previously been in a band with to ask about the possibility of forming a new band, Morris agreed and also recommended his bass-playing friend, Conway, as another addition. With that, the trio of TV Doctors was formed. The three only initially jammed for fun, but that all changed once the pandemic went into full swing. With all of them having nothing else to do, Conway cleaned out his garage, and the three played together in opposite corners at every opportunity they got. The name of TV Doctors came about from Morris, who kept on seeing celebrities like Doctor Phil and Doctor Oz whenever he would turn on the TV and thought it would be an entertaining theme to roll with.
Once Conway, Morris and Witmer learned to play as a unit, everything else for fell into place for TV Doctors. “It was like zero effort. Playing together was just a fun thing to do every week, and then it kind of took off,” Witmer said. In fact, one of the only dilemmas any of them had about the band was how to describe the music they make. On their website, they categorize themselves as a mix of psychedelic rock, funk, soul, dub, beats, and noise, but the walls between genres often blur, making a truly one-of-a-kind sound. With the trio’s list of musical inspirations including Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Brian Eno, James Brown, J Dilla and the Wu-Tang Clan, TV Doctors’ refusal to conform to one genre only makes sense.
Music and Performance Styles
Although TV Doctors have a laundry list of styles they dabble in, the most unique aspect of their performances is completely unrelated. All TV Doctors shows are a mixture of pre-planned and improvised songs, making no two shows alike—one of the many reasons that seeing them live once is not enough. During live shows, the band will play something that they have practiced before, but if one of them gets a fun idea of where to take the track, they will do so, and the rest will go along.
“It’s like a launch pad for ADHD,” Conway noted. While playing for keen-eared crowds improvisationally may sound like a stressful situation, the doctors take the challenge in stride. “I have absolutely no nerves going into a show with this band,” said Conway. “It’s kind of like a Ouija board, actually. We’re one brain now. Eventually, we’re going to get the message out.”
As the pandemic slowly subsided in 2022 and 2023, TV Doctors began playing more and more live shows. In March of 2022, the trio released their first live project: recordings from a set they had at Rare Form Brewery in Troy. Since then, the band has put out three more live albums, with the most recent being Live at Wolf Hollow Brewing Co., which was released this past February.
An Improved TV Doctors
As a result of the experience TV Doctors have racked up through practices and public shows, they have gotten more and more comfortable handling their on-the-fly live decision-making skills. “I think that we’re getting to a spot where we can play back and forth. Those moments where things explode and get crazy are super fun, but they’re a little bit more strategic than they used to be,” Witmer said. Conway then added, “We’re also spending more time actually writing the songs. Sometimes we’ll play through something [in practice] and be like, ‘No, that kind of sucks. Let’s drop that. Let’s try this other thing the next time around.’”
TV Doctors are almost always working on something new, and now is no different. Conway and Witmer noted that one of their goals for the near future is to make a short video package that coincides with an album release. Knowing the band’s creativity and consistency, whatever their next project turns out to be is guaranteed to be equally fun and mind-bending.
For anyone looking to experience the doctors live, multiple shows in Gloversville, Schenectady and Albany are coming up in the next couple of months. Keep up with TV Doctors through their Facebook, Instagram and X accounts, and stream their music here.
See below for more information on their upcoming live shows.
Upcoming Shows
9/13 – Glove Theater – 42 N Main St – Gloversville, NY
10/25 – Wolf Hollow Brewing – 6882 Amsterdam Rd – Schenectady, NY
10/26 – Lark Hall – 351 Hudson Ave – Albany, NY
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