Years of touring have seen The Weight Band revive “The Woodstock Sound,” keeping the spirit of Americana/Roots Rock alive for audiences of all ages. The act is led by Jim Weider, a 15-year former member of The Band and the Levon Helm Band. The Weight Band originated in 2013 inside the famed Woodstock barn of Levon Helm. Weider was inspired by Helm to carry on the musical legacy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group. Since then the act has released one studio album of original material (World Gone Mad, 2018) while performing across the US, Europe, and Japan- honoring the legacy of The Band while keeping the sound vibrant with new songs of their own.
Billboard, Relix Magazine, The New York Times and others have taken notice, as have generations of The Band fans who have yearned for new material since their last studio release almost 20 years ago. The Boston Globe proclaims the group “strikes a chord between past & present,” and the Chicago Tribune says “The Weight carries on where The Band left off.” Goldmine Magazine cited World Gone Mad as one of the best indie albums of 2018, saying the group “effectively revives and recreates The Band’s original rustic sound as a successor [and] keeps that arcane spirit alive!”
On October 25th, 2019, The Weight Band went into Big Pink, the famous pink house in West Saugerties, NY that was home to the early days of Bob Dylan collaborating with The Band, to rehearse for an acoustic show at Levon Helm Studios the next evening. The act set up close together in front of a small audience of friends and family, just to give the songs one last spin while spending time with loved ones. According to Jim, “We just ran through the songs once, and if the material needed more time we gave it. We picked five songs recorded during that rehearsal and six songs we recorded during the show the following night. That’s what Acoustic Live is – all “Live” no overdubs on vocals or solos. Kenny Kosek was a special guest on violin. The songs are stripped down, bare bones. That is what you hear, nothing can be hidden during unplugged sessions- it was such a fun night we thought we would share a few songs from it.”
