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Jim Weider | |
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 Jim Weider at Levon Helm Studios, May 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | December 21, 1951 Woodstock, New York, U.S. |
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| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Website | jimweider |
James Jeffrey Weider (born December 21, 1951) is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the Band. He joined the reformed version of the Band in 1985 to replace original guitarist Robbie Robertson.
A native of Woodstock, New York, Weider was born in 1951 and began playing guitar at age 11. Some of his early influences included Chuck Berry, James Burton and Scotty Moore. While still a teenager in Woodstock, Weider was influenced by guitarist Buzz Feiten, Robbie Robertson and harp blues musician Paul Butterfield, he became acquainted with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson and was exposed to the Band's music. Weider went on to become an accomplished studio session player in cities such as Nashville, touring with Johnny Paycheck, Lee Clayton and James Talley and in Atlanta working at Axis Studios with Harvey Brooks (bassist) and Richard Bell (musician) [1] but eventually returned to Woodstock to tour with Robbie Dupree and Levon Helm Woodstock All Stars. Levon Helm invited Jim to become the Band's sole guitarist in 1985, remaining until the group's dissolution in 2000 following the death of Rick Danko in late 1999. [2] Highlights with The Band include performing at Roger Waters THE WALL in Berlin, Germany 1990, Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary celebration and Woodstock '94. [3] Weider co-wrote on all three Band albums, including the song "Remedy" for Jericho (The Band album). As a member of The Band, he opened for the Grateful Dead at their final show. [4]
Weider's main instrument is his 1952 Fender Telecaster, but he also plays a vintage 1960s Silvertone electric guitar (primarily for slide) and a vintage 1960s Guild Starfire III. For amplification, Weider uses a combination of Fender amplifiers and his own signature series JW40 amp, designed in conjunction with Fargen Amplification, Inc. He is also the co-designer of the AnalogMan King of Tone pedal, which he uses on his pedalboard, and BIG-T PICKUPS he co-designed with Lindy Fralin.
In addition to his work with the Band and his own musical group, the Jim Weider Band, Weider has performed and recorded with numerous other musicians, including Mavis Staples (co-wrote "Have a Little Faith", winning the 2005 Blues Music Award), Los Lobos, Robbie Dupree, Dr. John, Graham Parker, Keith Richards and Bob Weir. He has also played alongside Keith Richards and Scotty Moore, who worked with Elvis Presley. [5] Jim produced and played on Paul Burlison's album Train Kept A-Rollin' and Tom Pacheco's Woodstock Winter. He is also featured in several instructional videos produced by Homespun Video. Following the departure of Jimmy Vivino in early 2009, Weider performed with the Levon Helm Band until Helm's death in 2012.
The latest incarnation of The Band's history, The Weight Band, originated inside the barn of Levon Helm Studios in 2013 when Jim Weider and Randy Ciarlante, both former members of The Band, were performing "Songs of The Band" with Garth Hudson, Jimmy Vivino and Byron Isaacs. After receiving support from fans, Weider, Ciarlante and Isaacs decided to continue the tradition of performing songs from The Band and invited Brian Mitchell and Marty Grebb -who contributed to both the Jericho and Jubilation albums- to complete their sound. The Weight Band later added Albert Rogers (2016), Michael Bram (2017) and Matt Zeiner (2019).
In 2015, Jim Weider started Camp Cripple Creek with The Weight Band, a celebration of The Band's music, with the first year at Levon Helm Studios and the years after at Full Moon Resort in Big Indian. Some of the guest artists were Jackie Greene, Larry Campbell (musician), Paul Barrere & Fred Tackett, David Bromberg, Maria Muldaur and John Sebastian, with part of the proceeds going to Levon Helm Studios.
In July 2017, PBS's Infinity Hall Live program began airing a televised performance by The Weight Band, featuring new music by the band. [6] In January 2018, Weider announced the first studio album for the Weight Band, World Gone Mad. "Common Man" - co-written by Levon Helm - was released as the first single. [7]
Recently, The Weight Band was announced as the first headliner for the new Folk & Americana Music Series, [8] a celebration of the genre's rich musical history and influence, at the Boch Center in Boston, Massachusetts. [9] Their first guest was the Guthrie Family (Woody Guthrie). [10]
In addition to playing in The Weight Band, Weider tours with G.E. Smith and Tom Principato as Masters of the Telecaster [11] and does solo shows with his touring band Project Percolator. [12]
With the Band
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The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1967. It consisted of Canadians Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and American Levon Helm. The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B, influencing musicians such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and Wilco.
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson was a Canadian musician. He was lead guitarist for Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s, guitarist and songwriter with the Band from their inception until 1978, and a solo artist.
Richard Clare Danko was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
Richard George Manuel was a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in The Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Jericho is the eighth studio album by Canadian-American rock group the Band. Coming seventeen years after their "farewell concert", it was released in 1993 and was the first album to feature the latter-day configuration of the group, as well as their first release for the Rhino subsidiary Pyramid Records.
Whispering Pines: Live at the Getaway is a live recording by Canadian singer Richard Manuel, chronicling two intimate live shows Manuel performed at The Getaway, a nightclub in Saugerties, New York on October 12, 1985. Released in Japan in March 2002, it is the first solo release from Manuel, who, unlike his former mates from The Band never recorded a proper solo album.
Jubilation is the tenth and final studio album by Canadian/American rock group the Band. Recorded in the spring of 1998 in Levon Helm's home studio in Woodstock, New York, it was released on September 15, 1998. For the first time since the group reformed without guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson, there were more originals than covers. Songs include "Last Train to Memphis", featuring guest guitarist Eric Clapton, Garth Hudson's solo instrumental closer "French Girls", Rick Danko's "High Cotton" and the ode to Ronnie Hawkins, "White Cadillac".
Larry Campbell is an American multi-instrumentalist who plays many stringed instruments in genres including country, folk, blues, and rock. He is perhaps best known for his time as part of Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour band from 1997 to 2004.
Jimmy Vivino is an American guitarist, keyboard player, singer, producer, and music director. He is best known as having been the leader of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, the house band for the TBS late night program Conan. He was also a member of The Tonight Show Band, the house band on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and its predecessor, Late Night with Conan O'Brien on NBC. Vivino has also played with many rock bands, including being a member of Beatles tribute band The Fab Faux. He is the younger brother of actor Floyd Vivino and Basic Cable Band bandmate Jerry Vivino.
Randy Ciarlante is an American musician who frequently played with The Band. He joined The Band in 1990, singing harmony and playing drums. He played and sang on their albums from the 1990s, including Jericho, High on the Hog and Jubilation. After the Band dissolved, he joined the Jim Weider Band from 1998 to 2006 and continues to play occasionally with Weider's Percolator band. In 2006, he joined the Organiks, a band based in Woodstock, New York, in which he is a primary vocalist, songwriter and drummer, along with Bruce Katz, Jay Collins and Chris Vitarello. Randy Ciarlante has also been a mainstay of the Woodstock music scene since 1981 and has played with many of that area's leading musicians over the years.
Arlen Roth is an American guitarist, teacher, and author. From 1982 to 1992, he was a columnist for Guitar Player magazine. Those ten years of columns became a book, Hot Guitar. His father Al Ross was a cartoonist for The New Yorker Magazine and many other publications over a 75-year career. He lived to the age of 100, and was one of the 4 Roth Brothers: Al Ross, Irving Roir, Ben Roth and Salo, all of whom became cartoonists. Al Ross was also a great painter and fine artist, and he was the one who encouraged Arlen to become a guitarist when he saw Arlen playing along with the Flamenco records he would play in the Bronx apartment.
"Chest Fever" is a song recorded by the Band on its 1968 debut, Music from Big Pink. It is, according to Peter Viney, a historian of the group, the album track that has appeared on the most subsequent live albums and compilations, second only to "The Weight".
Let It Rock is a Juno Award-nominated album that documents American-Canadian singer Ronnie Hawkins's 60th birthday celebration and concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, Ontario. The concert took place on January 8, 1995, and featured performances by Hawkins, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Band and Larry Gowan. Jeff Healey sat in on guitar for most, if not all, of the performances. Hawkins's band, the Hawks, or permutations of it, backed most, if not all, of the acts. All of the musicians performing that night were collectively dubbed "the Rock ‘N’ Roll Orchestra". The concert is among the last recorded of both Perkins and Rick Danko of the Band. An eponymous video of the concert was also released.
Amy Helm is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the daughter of drummer Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus. She is a past member of the Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble Band and Ollabelle, as well as her own touring band.
A Future to This Life: Robocop – The Series Soundtrack is a 1995 television soundtrack album by Joe Walsh with various artists, which was released on January 24, 1995, on both CD and cassette by Pyramid. It was the soundtrack for the 1994 TV series RoboCop, based on the RoboCop film series.
Chris Bergson is an American born guitarist, singer and songwriter. Chris Bergson was inducted into the New York Blues Hall of Fame as a Master Blues Artist in 2015.
The Weight Band is an American rock band formed in 2013. It consists of Jim Weider (guitar), Michael Bram, Brian Mitchell, Matt Zeiner and Albert Rogers. The Weight Band was created by Jim Weider to continue the musical legacy of The Band.
Carry Me Home is a 2022 collaborative album between Americans roots rock drummer Levon Helm and soul singer Mavis Staples, released on Anti-. Made from sessions recorded at Helm's studio in 2011, shortly before his death, the album has received praise from critics.
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