The Weight Channels The Band at WHBPAC

[caption id="attachment_56633" align="alignnone" width="800"] The Weight will perform at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 22.[/caption]

By Michelle Trauring

Woodstock is a little village nestled in the Catskill Mountains—beautiful, laid back and peaceful, with a gravitational pull artists and musicians cannot seem to resist.

At least that is the Woodstock Jim Weider knows today.

Since the 1800s, the town made famous by its synonymous music festival in 1969—actually held 40 miles away—has been a mecca for creative types. For Mr. Weider, they were his childhood heroes.

He grew up to the sounds of Van Morrison and Bob Dylan right in his backyard, the height of Woodstock’s heyday. He knew the talent behind The Band—Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson, who shared a house called “Big Pink” where they recorded “The Basement Tapes” with Dylan and wrote several songs that later appeared on “Music from Big Pink.”

By age 11, a young Mr. Weider had an electric guitar in his hand, influenced by Elvis Presley, the British Invasion and the legends surrounding him.

By 1985, he was a member of The Band himself.

Today, their music lives on through The Weight—a five-piece ensemble named for and dedicated to The Band’s songs, comprised of Mr. Weider and later Band-mate Randy Ciarlante, Brian Mitchell of the Levon Helm Band, and Marty Grebb and Albert Rogers, who worked with Mr. Danko and Mr. Manuel.

Together, they keep The Band’s legacy, memory and the music alive, touring nationally—they will play the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday—and internationally, with no end in sight.

The Sag Harbor Express: What can audiences expect from you guys?

They’re gonna hear everything from the early “Basement Tapes” all the way through “Big Pink,” “The Brown Album,” all the way through “Cahoots” and “Northern Lights – Southern Cross.” They’ll hear a cross section of their favorite tunes and tunes that they never even heard The Band do when I was with The Band. We’re going way back in. And each show we change up, so I think they’ll hear a lot of tunes they’ve been wanting to hear that The Band never did, unless they were in the early ’70s.

What was that time like when you came on the scene with The Band in 1985?

We had the original band members there, with Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson and Rick Danko and Levon Helm, and I started toying with them then, and stayed with them for 15 years.

It was great, you know? The first gig was in Dallas, Texas. I flew out, no rehearsal—and in front of 30,000 people had to kick off the tunes. Lucky I had been playing with Levon, so I had known these tunes. I grew up with these songs. So I was comfortable and I knew what was coming. But it was very exciting.

When did you first meet Levon?

I was 16, 17 when I met Levon and that’s where I met Garth and Rick and those guys. They were recording up here. They had built Bearsville Studio and they were making a record. They had “Big Pink,” too, so they were around town and that’s where I met them.

They were my favorite group. And they were local town heroes. I loved Bob Dylan and Van Morrison and The Band—all these people lived here. I listened to the bands that were right around my town, you know. I didn’t have to go too far, that was my influences. It was really a Woodstock sound.

What was it like playing with Levon and the boys after idolizing him as a kid?

It was really exciting, I loved that music, it’s part of my Catskill Mountains. It comes from the Catskill Mountains, that music. It’s really part of my heritage and so it was really exciting and really I learned a lot about performing professionally and giving 110 percent, no matter what. No matter how tired you were, you just go out and you play. Levon and those guys, they were all about the music. There was no fluff. They were about really putting on a show and performing at your maximum at all times.

I would imagine it was very difficult when Levon died four years ago?

Yeah. Yeah. But we played right ’til the very end, the last week of his life. We did a show at the Barn. I mean, he’s tough.

How long after did it take for The Weight to form?

I think it was 2013, maybe. We’ve been together now for almost three and a half years years or so. We did a couple shows with Jimmy Vivino and Garth Hudson called “Songs of the Band,” and I saw that people really were so excited. Those guys couldn’t do any more than a few of the shows, but people were loving it so much that I went to our drummer, Randy, and said, “Why don’t we put this together and try it?”

And it just took off. People really are excited about hearing this music again and carrying on the music. That’s all we’re doing: just keeping the music alive.

What was it like bringing all these pieces together?

It took a little time. And then it all just started making sense, the different voices. There’s five vocalists and everybody trading songs back and forth. It just really started to sound like a band—like The Band. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it

What’s the dynamic among you guys? 

Everybody’s different. [He laughed.] Our bass player, Albert, is from the Carolinas. Great singer, he flies up for the shows and he used to play with me in the Jim Weider Band for years, and Brian played with in Levon’s band for 10 years. We’ve all go far back, we’ve all known each other. We’re getting to know Marty, he’s the newest guy.

But everybody knows each other pretty well and you can feel they have a really strong bond to the band’s music.

What do you think Levon would think?

I think he would be going, “Hey, keep playing the music, boys! You’re doing good.” Gotta keep rockin’ and rollin’.

No plans to stop?

Nah, what would I do? Look at the birdfeeder.

The Weight will play a concert on Saturday, October 22, at 8 p.m. at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $35, $45, or $55. For more information, visit whbpac.org.