The Weight Band (ft. Former Members of The Band and The Levon Helm Band) Releasing ‘Shines Like Gold’ LP 4/1

The Weight Band, an ensemble featuring former members of The Band and The Levon Helm Band, will release a new record titled Shines Like Gold on Friday, April 1.

The group is comprised of 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).

Shines Like Gold is the second album from the group, and was previewed with a video for “Out of the Wilderness”:

Some more details about the record, per a news release:

On their second studio album, The Weight Band looks at our troubled world, ponders the passage of time, and ultimately conveys a sense of hopefulness for the future.

Featuring nine original songs and a cover of a Willie Dixon gem, the band recorded the album live at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, NY, over four days – with minimal rehearsal during the height of the pandemic in 2020 while producer Colin Linden, an award-winning musician and Weider’s longtime collaborator and co-writer on several of the album tracks, was in Nashville. “He had a big hand and footprint on this record,” says Weider. “We go back, so there is a comfortableness working with him.”

Click here to pick up Shines Like Gold on CD from our Rock Cellar Store

The track listing:

1. Weight of the World
2. Out of the Wilderness
3. Time Is a Thief
4. Old John
5. Tall Trees
6. Long Journey
7. Shines Like Gold
8. Train Is Never on Time
9. Tear Down These Walls
10. It Don’t Make Sense (If You Can’t Make Peace)

And some history behind The Weight Band:

The Weight Band’s origins are tied to Woodstock and some of its most famous inhabitants, The Band. Weider, a Woodstock native, served as The Band’s lead guitarist from 1985-2000, following Robbie Robertson’s departure. In the late 00s, he replaced Jimmy Vivino in the Levon Helm Band, which already included Mitchell. The connections extend further, as Rogers shared the stage with Helm and Hudson while in The Jim Weider Band and Bram drummed in the Chris O’Leary Band, an off-shoot of Helm’s band, The Barnburners.

After Helm’s death in 2012, Weider performed a few “Songs of The Band” concerts, which included Vivino, Byron Isaacs, Randy Ciarlante, and Garth Hudson. The shows were so well received that Weider started the first version of The Weight Band with Ciarlante, Isaacs, Mitchell, and keyboardist Marty Grebb. Over the next several years, the group shifted from mainly Band songs to their originals. Along the way, band membership shifted as well. When Isaacs left for The Lumineers, Rogers came aboard. Bram joined
the group after Ciarlante’s departure. Following World Gone Mad’s release, Grebb bowed out, and Zeiner stepped in.