though they’re not sure exactly when. Kristen was working at House of Musical Traditions, along with Rowan Corbett (rob’s bandmate in ilyAIMY). In between tours, rob used to come to the shop to look at guitars and get things repaired. But Kristen was heavily involved in the steel drum scene, rob kept going back on the road...and they didn’t really get to know each other until rob joined the HMT staff part-time in 2007. Kristen was general manager at the time which meant she was technically rob’s boss...ahem! But slowly they got to know each other and bonded over Battlestar Galactica and Adult Swim cartoons...they endured the Herculean task together of moving HMT to a location down the street...Kristen started going to ilyAIMY shows...and rob finally sent Kristen a flirty text about how good her hair smelled. In September 2008 they went on their first date traipsing around the old Silver Spring Seminary as it was beginning its conversion to condos, they watched more cartoons, and soon became inseparable. Dave Eisner (HMT’s owner) gave them his blessing, with the condition that Kristen had seniority - so if they ever had a nasty breakup, rob might have to look for other employment!
A couple of months later, ilyAIMY was recording their album “A Gift For St. Cecilia,” and Heather was envisioning a cello addition on one or two tracks. She said to rob “doesn’t your girlfriend play cello? Think she would do it for free?” And that was the beginning of Kristen joining ilyAIMY. She hadn’t been playing cello much at that time, but that started to change as the two album tracks grew into learning more songs, eventually guest-playing on shows, and then becoming a full-time member of the band. Rob & Kristen moved in together in August 2009 - living together, working at HMT together, playing music together, and still managing to get along with each other absurdly well!
Rob finally proposed July 3rd, 2016. He’d been carrying a ring around for a few weeks looking for the perfect moment. After several thwarted attempts, he decided there was no time like the present, which happened to be in the wee hours of the morning, in the living room after getting home from an exhausting gig. Of course, she said yes!