As a seasoned musician, Bob Erickson has played hundreds, maybe thousands of shows over the years, but one of the most memorable was recently on the campus of Pensacola State College. The very special occasion was The Tree-Oh's performance for an upcoming episode of StudioAmped on WSRE, which he says was an incredible experience for him and his bandmates.

"Just the coolest thing we've ever been a part of," is how he termed it afterward, and he's still impressed with how quickly and easily it came together.

On Erickson's end of things, it certainly helps to surround yourself with other great players. Besides himself on guitar and vocals, The Tree-Oh is made up of bassist Jojo Morris, drummer TK Lively, and guest keyboardist Chris Alexander. On the night of Wed., Oct. 8, the tight, funky unit breezed confidently and seamlessly through a dozen of their own songs to a very appreciative audience inside the public television station's 10,000-square-foot Amos Performance Studio. When the segment premieres on March 19, The Tree-Oh will become one of around 80 different musical acts from the region that have been featured on the locally produced show since it was first broadcast in 2008.

"Everything was effortless and extremely professional," says Erickson. The program's longtime executive director, Billy Harrell, returns those sentiments, saying bands of The Tree-Oh's caliber that show up being so prepared make his team's jobs a lot easier. 

The show is often described as this area's version of Austin City Limits, and there are certainly similarities. While it may seem to viewers that StudioAmped is simply a live performance before an audience that gets captured on video, there's a lot more to it. Making it happen requires a lot of work behind the scenes from many people.

Though Erickson and his fellow band members felt so comfortable that they hardly noticed them, there were nine high-definition cameras trained on their every move. Besides the camera operators and sound engineers, there is a ticket taker, an usher, and staffers who help with other aspects of setup and production. And then there's Harrell, who, besides overseeing the whole production, is also an upbeat onstage emcee.

If all goes according to plan, six hours have elapsed from the time the musicians arrive at WSRE until they drive away feeling proud and satisfied. The staff wants them to feel at ease and reminds them to relax between songs and not to rush. Those pauses can be edited out, of course, and they can do a song over, no problem, if they need to for any reason. (The Tree-Oh did not need to, for the record.) 

Those appearing on StudioAmped don't get paid for the performances, but they get a digital copy of the edited performance they can use for promotion, and they can also invite friends and fans to see them in action on television or by streaming from YouTube, wsre.org, or via the PBS app. The show airs every Thursday at 9 p.m. Central, with "encore" performances filling the slots when fresh content isn't yet available. The new season, featuring The Tree-Oh and several other acts, begins March 5. As always, Austin City Limits follows at 10:00, so Thursday night WSRE viewers can enjoy two hours of live music back-to-back.

For bands, the first step in this process is for Harrell to hear them perform in person.. For The Tree-Oh, that happened at Calvert's in the Height, just a few miles from the television studio. To Erickson, it seems pretty fortuitous and coincidental because the band is actually based in Ocean Springs, Miss., and hadn't played in Pensacola in many years when Harrell encountered them. The ace keyboardist Alexander gets credit not only for hooking them up with the gig after learning of a venue cancellation, but also for inviting Harrell to the show. 

The man in charge of StudioAmped was impressed not just by the band's talents but also by the fact that they were doing lots of their own songs. Harrell says that's not always the case when he's out and about scouting for talent.

"I have to tell them upfront that unless they have 60 minutes of original music, I can't use them," Harrell says. "And that's where I lose a lot of bands because there are a lot of them out there that are so good, but they haven't spent the time writing original material yet. Their time will come, I'm sure, but they're just not there yet."

Something else that caught Harrell's attention was The Tree-Oh: it's partly a blues band, but not completely. Their versatile sound includes elements of jazz, reggae, R&B, and New Orleans-style funk. And though they are highly skilled musicians, they don't take themselves too seriously — their music is playful and, with song titles like "Turtle on the Highway," "Vacation Probation" and "Dog on a Chain in the Backyard of Love," so are Erickson's lyrics.

They've been together for about a decade. Talking about the band's history, Erickson said The Tree-Oh branched off from his and Morris' experience in the band Cat Rhodes and the Truth. He told Harrell more of their specific musical history in an interview segment that will be part of the broadcast in March.

"That was another interesting part of the whole experience for me," says Erickson. "It was about a 30-minute interview session, and Billy asked some really in-depth musical questions. He asked about the songwriting process, about the challenges of having members living in different states, and some other things."

Maybe the reason that Harrell was able to dig so deep with his questions, and why musical acts feel so comfortable at WSRE, is that he's a kindred spirit. Like many from his generation, he picked up a guitar and got in front of a microphone soon after seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

"I played in bands all through high school and for three years at Ole Miss," says Harrell. "Later, in 1989, I got together with some other experienced musicians, and we formed the Reunion Band. We played together for 33 years, mostly dance music, until we retired a few years ago. We always had daytime jobs and didn't depend on it for a living."

As Harrell knows from his years in bands and from producing StudioAmped, performances wouldn't be as good without the audience's energy.. In his introduction at the taping, he gave a quick explanation of the process, gave away a few door prizes, and encouraged the fans to applaud heartily to help enliven the atmosphere. (They did.)

There were some in the crowd who had never been inside the studio, and others who obviously were old hands. Because the tapings are usually on weeknights, are free of charge, and are over fairly early, it's a very cool and unique entertainment option for those in the know.

"We don't expect to have more than 75 or 100 people there," says Harrell. "We're never gonna fill that place because we're doing them on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. We don't sell alcohol, so they're not there to dance, socialize, and have a good time. They're there to hear the music."