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Performing their current album, World Gone Mad, as well as classic songs of The Band, The Weight Band 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. Jim was inspired by Helm to carry on the musical legacy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group and brought on Brian Mitchell, keyboardist for The Levon Helm Band.

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. They continue to keep the sound vibrant by releasing new music, evidenced by the album World Gone Mad (February 2018.) Their live set features Weight Band songs from the new album as well as fan favorites from The Band’s treasured catalog, including “Up On Cripple Creek,” “The Weight,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

The Weight Band includes Jim Weider (The Band, The Levon Helm Band), Brian Mitchell (The Levon Helm Band), Michael Bram (Jason Mraz), Matt Zeiner (Dickey Betts Band), and Albert Rogers (The Jim Weider Band). The Weight Band complements The Band’s timeless legacy while pushing the music forward for new audiences.

Billboard, Relix Magazine, 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 World Gone Mad “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!”

The Weight Band - featuring members of The Band and the Levon Helm Band

JIM WEIDER

Jim Weider (guitar, mandolin & vocals) is a former member of The Band. From 1985 to 2000, Weider replaced Robbie Robertson as their lead guitarist, writing songs and performing on their three studio albums, Jericho, High on the Hog, and Jubilation. He toured internationally with original Band members Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Rick Danko for fifteen years and was featured with them on numerous albums, films, videos, and in television appearances.

MICHAEL BRAM

Michael Bram (drums & vocals) is a soulful singer and multi-instrumentalist. Bram splits his time drumming for The Weight Band and Jason Mraz. He has been a staple in the New York music scene for almost two decades- other career highlights include working with Willie Nelson and recording tracks with Bob Margolin of The Last Waltz fame.

MATT ZEINER

Matt Zeiner (keyboard & vocals) began his career with Hartford’s Street Temperature band, then hit the road with Matt “Guitar” Murphy of Blues Brothers fame. Zeiner has also toured extensively with Dickey Bett; a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band.

ALBERT ROGERS

Albert Rogers (bass, vocals) has shared the stage with Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and played in The Jim Weider Band. Rogers has also performed with Sid McGinnis, Hubert Sumlin, Jimmy Vivino, Albert Lee and many others.

Special Guest Artists

Jimmy Vivino

Jimmy Vivino (aka Jimmy V) has always considered himself “a blues man with a job”. Although best known for serving 26 years as Conan O’Brien’s musical director, guitarist and bandleader, his experience in the music business predates that by 20 plus years.

Jimmy V has produced, lead bands and recorded with a countless number rock and roll and blues artists for five decades including the likes of Hubert Sumlin, Warren Haynes, Bob Weir, Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Johnnie Johnson, Son Seals, Shemekia Copeland, Levon Helm, Phoebe Snow, Dion, Laura Nyro, Bob Margolin, Lowell Fulson, John Sebastian, Joe Louis Walker and Al Kooper to name a few. When not producing, recording or touring with other artists, Jimmy still tours the country and the world with his own band and is due to release a new blues album later on this year (2022).

Bob Margolin

Bob Margolin is a Steady Rollin’ Blues guitar player and singer who tours worldwide with his band, solo, or as a featured guest. He delivers original songs and the spirit of Chicago Blues that he learned onstage and recording in Muddy Waters’ band from 1973-1980. You can see him with Muddy and The Band in the Last Waltz film from 1976 all the way to live in the all-star Last Waltz shows by Blackbird Presents. Bob is known for his slide guitar, powerful vocals and the sound, stories and time travel of his experiences and with the legends he knew.

Lost Leaders

Lost Leaders was born in a barn. Levon Helm’s barn to be precise. Originally it was just a group of songs written by longtime friends Byron Isaacs (The Lumineers) and Peter Cole (of 2000’s pop/rock T.V. placement juggernaut Lava Baby). Byron was playing in Levon’s band at the time and so the friends were invited to live and record at his barn for a few weeks. While recording they were invited to play the Midnight Ramble with Levon which essentially was their first gig as Lost Leaders. The resulting album won some fans in the press. RELIX called it “...a timeless sound that could have materialized just as easily in Laurel Canyon as in Woodstock, N.Y...a band out of time [and] perfectly in the now. ..” & No Depression “I love this album. I love it. I want to run out to the street and plug my earbuds into the nearest ears I can find and force them to listen to Lost Leaders...Among my top picks for this year...” Upon release the song I’m Gonna Win was picked up in heavy rotation by AAA station WXPK in White Plains, NY and from there it spread across the country.

With no label they chased the train as it was leaving the station. For the follow up L.P. Promises Promises, they worked with David Baron (The Lumineers, Jade Bird, Meghan Trainor, Vance Joy) as Producer. After touring on and off in support of that record, the Jealous Sun E.P. emerged. The lead single “Long Way Down” was the most added song at Americana radio in June 2022 and landed in the top 100 nationally later that summer. In a strange and unexpected tangent Peter was cast in Hannah Ha Ha the debut film from Jordan Tetwesky who had been working on videos for the band. The film went on to win Best Narrative Feature at Slamdance Film Festival and was screened at film festivals around the world. Peter’s performance was even called out in a wonderful review in the New York Times. Getting back to what they do best, Byron and Peter spent 8 weeks in the studio during the Spring of 2023 and so Lost Leaders has a new full length album exploring desire and acceptance aptly titled “Hungry Ghosts” which they plan to release in 2024.

Chris O'Leary

Chris’s musical background includes duties as lead singer and front man for rock and roll hall of famer and Grammy award winner Levon Helm’s band, The Barnburners. During the 6 years that Chris and Levon played together they toured across the US and Canada lighting up stages everywhere they went. Chris has appeared on stage with: Legendary Rolling Stones sideman Bobby Keys, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmy Vivino, Jeff Healy, Dan Akroyd, Albert Lee, Dave Edmunds, Dave Maxwell and the great James Cotton to name just a few. Chris has also recorded with Bill Perry and Hubert Sumlin, among others.

The Chris O’Leary Band’s debut CD “Mr. Used to Be” won the 2011 Best New Artist Debut CD Blues Blast Award and was nominated for best new artist debut at the 2011 American Blues Music Awards.

Cindy Cashdollar

Cindy Cashdollar grew up in Woodstock, New York. Cashdollar is an old local family name. Her great-uncle Albert Cashdollar was the Town Supervisor and the family ran Locust Grove Dairy. The whole musical community watched as Cindy’s talent swiftly grew on the Dobro and then lap steel as she played with everyone in town during the late 1970s and ‘80s, The demand for her musical touch led her to touring and performing regionally with local Woodstock luminaries Levon Helm, Rick Danko, bluegrass singer John Herald, blues legend Paul Butterfield, and folk heroes Happy & Artie Traum. However, in 1992 her restless musical quest took her to Nashville where she met and landed a job with America’s premiere Western Swing group Asleep At The Wheel, leading her to Austin. Expanding her instrumental prowess to the steel guitar, Cindy’s taste and style added to the band’s sound as she toured and recorded with them for nine years.

During her time with the band she had the chance to collaborate with legends such as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton and Lyle Lovett, among others, and won five Grammys. Upon leaving AATW to once again engage in a wider variety of music, the names of those who sought her out and hired her to add fire and sweetness to their music are lifted out of the record books: Ryan Adams, Bob Dylan (on his Grammy winning Time Out of Mind album), Van Morrison, Dave Alvin, John Sebastian, Rod Stewart, Albert Lee, Sonny Landreth, Marcia Ball, Rory Block, Jorma Kaukonen, Leon Redbone, Peter Rowan …and on and on. She was the first woman to be inducted into the Texas Steel Guitar Hall Of Fame, also inducted into the Texas Music Hall Of Fame, and has been a nominee for Instrumentalist Of The Year by the Americana Music Association. In 2022 the revered Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum added Cindy to their “Nashville Cats” roster, which honors side musicians for their contributions to recordings and live performances.

Stony Creek Band

For over 50 years, the Stony Creek Band has been one of the most enduringly popular musical groups in the northeastern United States. The Stony Creek Band has thrilled generations of fans with its high energy blend of rock, folk, country and bluegrass; a sound that has consistently defied description but is “a product of the landscape as authentically upstate as any Hudson River School painting or sculpture by David Smith” and performed in a manner described by one reviewer as “a ferocious ensemble attack; like a runaway train!”.

Rob Fraboni

Robert Alan Fraboni is a record producer and audio engineer, well known for his work with Bob Dylan, The Band, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Tim Hardin, The Beach Boys, Joe Cocker, and Bonnie Raitt, and as Vice President at Island Records where he oversaw the remastering of the entire Bob Marley catalog. He produced the soundtrack on Martin Scorsese's groundbreaking concert movie, The Last Waltz, which included an all-star cast of famous rock and roll performers. He built and designed the legendary Shangri-La studios in Malibu to the specification of Bob Dylan and The Band.

Randy Ciarlante

When the Band was offered a record deal by CBS Records in 1990, Levon Helm recruited drummer/vocalist Randy Ciarlante into the Band. He stayed with the group since then, often singing Richard Manuel's parts in the older Band songs, playing bass, and doubling with Levon on drums at their live performances. Ciarlante can be heard on the Band albums from the '90s, Jericho, High on the Hog, and Jubilation.

See Lee Gabites' 1997 interview with Randy Ciarlante for more about Randy's musical background.

Larry Packer

String musician (guitar, violin, viola and mandolin) Larry Packer began his career as teenager accompanying country blues great Paul Geremia. At a performance at Greenwich Village’s Bitter End, he was approached about replacing two members of a band based in NYC called Cat Mother and The All-night Newsboys. The band relocated to Woodstock, where they were heard by Jimi Hendrix’s manager . This led to going on the road with Hendrix for 1968-9, recording their first album with Jimi producing; “Good Old Rock n’ Roll” was a top-20 hit in 1969. The band opened for THE BAND for their first NYC appearance at the Fillmore East on the “Music from Big Pink” tour. They recorded their next record in Haight-Ashbury, sharing the studio with the Grateful Dead, and eventually relocated to Mendocino. Larry left Cat Mother and became lead guitarist with Sha-Na-Na for 1970-71, including appearances in “The Festival Express” and WNET-TV’s “Live at the Fillmore East”, and Flip Wilson’s 1970 X-mas Eve Special. Road gigs with Harry Belafonte, David Bromberg, Steve Goodman, Jerry Jeff Walker, Peter Rowan, Billy Vera, Johnny Maestro, Bill Keith and Jim Rooney, Lou Reed, Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s first U.S. and European tours, Maria Muldaur, Garland Jeffries, Happy and Artie Traum. Larry played with the horns in The Band’s 1975 appearances at NYC’s Palladium and Philly’s Tower Theatre, and joined them again in 1976 for “The Last Waltz” concert and film. He later played with Levon Helm’s Woodstock All-Stars in the mid 80’s along with bandmates Jimmy Weider, Randy Ciarlante, Cindi Cashdollar, Stan Szylest and Frank Campbell. Recordings with all of the above, and many, many others including Phoebe Snow, Jonathan Edwards, David Lasley, John Herald, Sunny Day Real Estate, Space Hog, Tim Hardin, Rosalie Sorrels, Jean Ritchie’s Grammy-nominated “Christmas in Kentucky”, Jay Black, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson,The Band’s “Islands” and “High on The Hog” albums, Hall and Oates’ “Abandoned Luncheonette” album.

He was 2000 Artist-in-Residence at SUNY-Ulster and twice at St. Lawrence University, once with composer David Amram, whose quintet he played with for several years at venues like BAM, Madison Square Garden and Town Hall. As a member of Ed Summerlin’s Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, he was featured in concerts with Ron Carter and Lee Konitz. In 2016, he was inducted into the New York State Blues Hall of Fame along with Rory Block and John Platania. He founded the Woodstock String Quartet, played in the Broadway production of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, road shows of “The Robber Bridegroom” with John Goodman as the dashing leading man, including the summer of 1976 at Ford’s Theatre in D.C. .In 1975 Larry can be seen on the 3rd show of the first “Saturday Night Live” season playing a square dance with Dan Ackroyd as caller and John Belushi hurling himself around the stage; years later he played SNL behind Johnny Cash!

For 23 years, Larry has performed and toured with the internationally popular Albany-based Celtic-rock band “Hair of the Dog”, including 9 Ireland tours and appearances at festivals all over the U.S.. He released a solo cd “Eye Of The Sun” on Woodstock Records, assisted by friends like Garth Hudson, Tom “Bones” Malone, the great guitarists Ed Diehl and Steve Burgh, and bassist “Big Mike” Dunn, sadly all 3 are no longer with us. He continues to remain active as sideman and session musician in a wide variety of genres.

DON LASALA

Don is the current owner of Big Pink, and is an avid guitarist, singer/song-writer and audio engineer. A lover of a well crafted song, he was a leader & lead guitarist with the seminal original late '70s Northeast jam band, the Hooligan Band. As a live audio engineer, he was live production manager & front-of-house mix for NRBQ in the ‘80s and worked on live productions with Warren Zevon, John Sebastian, Bonnie Raitt, David Johansen, David Bromberg & many others.

Don is perhaps the country's leading historian as regards Big Pink - one of the most famous houses in rock n' roll. He looks forward giving a talk and Q&A on the house's storied past... as well as what's happening there currently.

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