The Weight Channels The Band at WHBPAC - 27 East

Arts & Living

Arts & Living / 2104523

The Weight Channels The Band at WHBPAC

icon 1 Photo
The Weight will perform at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday

The Weight will perform at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Saturday

authorgavinmenu on Oct 17, 2016

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

You May Also Like:

Celebrate Women’s History Month With a Comedic ‘Moms' Night Out Long Island’ at Bay Street Theater

Long Island comedian Paul Anthony presents the 3rd annual “Moms’ Night Out Long Island Comedy Show” coming to Bay Street Theater on Saturday, March 15, at 8 p.m. The show will feature four headline female comics plus a guest performance by Sag Harbor comedian Ruby Jackson. “We’re very excited to bring back this incredible, iconic show. It has quickly become one of our most popular comedy shows,” Anthony said. “We’re also very proud of the fact that ‘Moms’ Night Out Long Island’ is the only show on Long Island that truly celebrates female comedians. Each performance showcases some of the ... 4 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer

The Suffolk Presents ‘12 Angry Men,’ Its First Live Theatrical Production

This month, The Suffolk presents its very first live theatrical production with three performances of Reginald Rose’s play “12 Angry Men” running March 28 to 30. Directed by Joe Minutillo, the play is set in the sweltering summer of 1958 in Manhattan, where 12 jurors are deciding the life or death fate of a teenage boy accused of murdering his father. Tensions run high as a lone dissenter questions the evidence and the assumptions made by the other jurors, sparking a tense and thoughtful examination of the case. As the jurors deliberate, they confront their own biases, prejudices and personal ... by Staff Writer

A Collaboration 50 Years in the Making at Pollock-Krasner House

The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center and the Elaine de Kooning House are partnering to present the installation “Elaine de Kooning x Eric Haze: Memory Image” at the Pollock-Krasner House. Viewings will be held on Saturday, March 15, and Saturday, April 5. The genesis of this exhibition began in 1972, when a 10-year-old Haze and his younger sister sat to have their portrait painted by Elaine de Kooning. While in the studio, de Kooning provided Haze with a set of paints and instructed him in the creation of two abstract canvases. In 2020, long since having established himself as a ... 3 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer

The Art of Eric Dever and Joel Perlman Opens the Bridgehampton Museum's 2025 Season

The Bridgehampton Museum opens its inaugural art exhibition of 2025 with a reception this Saturday, ... by Staff Writer

‘Women in Film’ at Southampton Playhouse

Celebrating International Women’s Day, which is March 8, this weekend, The Southampton Playhouse will offer “Women in Film Screening Series.” On Friday, March 7, at 7 p.m., the theater offers a 25th anniversary screening of “Erin Brokovich.” Julia Roberts’s fiery, Oscar-winning turn as the real-life environmental activist who exposed the groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California, solidified the actress as one of the greatest performers of her generation. “There are no holes in my research,” she says in the film. Director Steven Soderbergh created a lively crowd-pleaser out of Brokovich’s relentless efforts to get at the truth behind the ominous forces ... by Staff Writer

‘Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed and Unbowed,’ Ingrid Griffith’s One-Woman Show, at LTV

The Playwrights’ Theatre of East Hampton at LTV Studios will present “Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed and ... 2 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer

SIFM Welcomes Sirena Huang and Chih-Yi Chen

Shelter Island Friends of Music hosts its second concert of the 2025 season on Saturday, ... by Staff Writer

A Talk on Bridgehampton's Literary Legends

This spring, the Bridgehampton Museum and Canio’s Books are presenting a new lecture series highlighting ... by Staff Writer

The Hamptons Festival of Music Announces Its 2025 Season

The Hamptons Festival of Music (TH·FM) has unveiled its upcoming 2025 Mainstage Season, marked by a new chapter for the organization. This year, TH·FM will make its home at the historic St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton Village, where a trio of curated performances will take place. The 2025 season features three concerts showcasing a range of classical works. Under the direction of the festival’s artistic director, Maestro Michael Palmer, the New American Sinfonietta will perform music by Prokofiev, Barber, Mozart, Cimarosa, Berlioz and Beethoven. Associate conductor Logan Souther will lead a concert of works by Stravinsky, Mozart and ... by Staff Writer

Boots on the Ground Theater Kicks off its Gen C Creative Program With 'The Railway Children' at SCC

From Friday, March 14, to Sunday, March 23, Boots on the Ground Theater presents “The ... 1 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer