The Band was one of the most important roots rock groups of the 1960s. The influential group, which included Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson, began in Canada and then migrated to the U.S. It was the subject of a Martin Scorsese documentary The Last Waltz; the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked The Band 50 on the list of 100 greatest artists and the song “The Weight” was ranked 41st on the magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs. It is a storied history.
Levon Helm died in 2012 after a lengthy battle with throat cancer that kept him from performing for many years. In 2013, in the Woodstock barn Levon Helm loved, Jim Weider and Randy Ciarlante, both former members of The Band, performed “Songs of the Band” with founder Garth Hudson, Jimmy Vivino and Byron Isaacs.
The experience inspired Weider, Ciarlante and Isaacs to carry on The Band’s legacy and they began performing fan favorites. They invited Brian Mitchell and later added Albert Rogers, Michael Bram and Matt Zeiner to join them. “We started doing some songs and people got excited,” Weider said. “We put The Weight Band together and people were so happy to hear the songs again. Then we wanted to do an original album.”
In 2018, they released an album of original material, World Gone Mad, that captured The Band’s musical tradition but was put together for today’s vibrant Americana base. The album is an Americana/Roots Rock tribute to the music and the Woodstock sound. Goldmine magazine called it “one of the year’s best indie albums.”
The group’s 2022 album Shines Like Gold drew on roadhouse rock, funky swamp pop, blues, country soul and folk music. It was recorded live at Clubhouse Studios in Rhinebeck, New York over four days during the height of the pandemic. The band looked at our troubled world, pondered the passage of time, and ultimately conveyed a sense of hopefulness for the future. “There’s a new dawn rising,” they proclaimed on the title track, “and it shines like gold.”
The Weight Band is composed of band leader, renowned guitarist Jim Weider (The Band, Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Band, Jim Weider Band), keyboardist Brian Mitchell (Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble Band), bassist Albert Rogers (Jim Weider Band, Jimmy Vivino), drummer Michael Bram (Jason Mraz) and keyboardist Matt Zeiner (Dickey Betts). The veteran quintet shares a deep appreciation and knowledge for the music they play, which Weider describes as the “Woodstock Sound.” The Weight Band continues to serve as its torchbearer with Shines Like Gold representing a sublime example of these masterful roots musicians at work.
Choosing the name of the band was an homage to the legendary song they made so famous. “’The Weight’ will be a song in spaceships on the moon,” Weider said. “It’s a classic song that defined American culture at the time and still does. The Band was the beginning of Americana. They were the first Americana band and they cross-pollinated all the music and put it in a big pot.”
Replicating the music of the Band would be a tall order, but interpreting it is an art. The songs The Band created have pleased audiences for decades, and The Weight Band has found a way to honor the legacy while creating its own sound with original works that complement that legacy.
Take a load off and come hear the music that defined an era.
