A few years ago, The Weight Band evolved out of The Band, The East Coast’s answer to the Grateful Dead. In 2023 they released their second album Shines Like Gold. Lead singer and guitarist Jim Weider writes much of their material. At age 73 he’s creating new music.
“I came up with a new cut called ‘Why Are You Sleeping?’I wrote a few words to it. It’s about the American people now.”
Does he feel like the world has gone to sleep? “I think so. People are sleeping watching what is being done.” “Why Are You Sleeping?’ addresses this phenomenon.” The Weight Band is not performing the song on their tour. “I haven’t written the words yet. I have chord ideas.”
Weider admits that he’s nervous about the state of things here in the states and around the world. “Well, yeah, yeah, it’s kind of an underlying thought ’cause we’ve been around a long time. We’ve seen things like this happen. I don’t like all the billionaires taking over this country. It’s becoming another corporate thing like the radio, like Amazon… Everything is corporate.
“The little mom-and-pop stores we all grew up with (music stores, grocery stores)—they’re all gone. It’s all run by the big guys. They’re going to decide what everybody listens to. They’re censoring our radio, our news, and our TV stations. Come on! They’re censoring the Smithsonian. They’re censoring our art. It’s an endless thing. Don’t get me started.”
What’s going on has affected Weider creatively. “It just kind of depressed me about all of that stuff, the way the situation is. I haven’t gotten the input. I have to wait until I get creative.”
That doesn’t mean The Weight Band is becoming their own Band cover group.
“We’re creating new music. We play (on tour) from our two albums of stuff, and I’m sure I’ll get inspired. I’m going to go back and look at ‘Why Are You Sleeping?’ I wrote a few words to it. It’s about the American people now and the world. So, I’m going to take a look at that.
“I’ve been watching tv and getting depressed by the news. Just enjoying playing live. The band sounds great. We’re just going out to play! We’re going to fill in a few other new tunes. You’ll be hearing some stuff from the first couple of albums, and of course we always fit in a Grateful Dead tune, an Allman Brothers tune plus all of The Band classics.”
The Weight Band has concentrated on touring since the album came out. “We were just out in the Midwest. That went well. We went back. The rest of the shows the rest of the year are on the east coast as far as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and all the way up to Canada. Then at the end of January we go to Florida and up to Maine.”
