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Worth the Weight

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Jim Weider's ProJECT PERCoLATor performs "Percolator"

Fans of the electric guitar—especially lovers of that unique species known as the Fender Telecaster—are familiar with the signature sound of Woodstock, New York native Jim Weider. He’s played with an impressive list of artists including Bob Dylan, Graham Parker, Los Lobos, Doctor John, Taj Mahal, Paul Butterfield, Scotty Moore, Keith Richards, Hot Tuna and Bob Weir & Rat Dog. He was already a Nashville studio cat when he got the call from Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel to step into Robbie Robertson’s shoes as the lead guitarist of Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame members The Band when they reformed in 1985—nearly a decade after their farewell show that was captured by Martin Scorsese in his landmark rock documentary The Last Waltz. Weider immediately went from studio whiz to playing with his favorite band at 20,000-seat venues on a tour with Crosby, Stills & Nash. These days, Weider shows no signs of slowing down. He comes to Buffalo for a show at the Buffalo Icon on September 21 at 8pm with his new band, in support of a blistering new instrumental album. Artvoice recently caught up with him in his Woodstock home, just as he was heading down to New York City at the invitation of another guitar great, Jeff Beck.

Artvoice: Hi Jim. How’s it going?

Jim Weider: It’s going good. I got this new band that I’m really excited about, and it’s really cool.

AV: ProJECT PERCoLATor?

JW: Yeah, well, it’s Jim Weider’s ProJECT PERCoLATor.

AV: Is there a story behind the unique spelling of it?

Weider: Well, the guy who made my album cover thought it kind of fit the music…the motion of the letters…

AV: It percolated?

JW: It kind of percolated! You know, the music’s all kinds of groove guitar…groove instrumentals. You can get up and move to it. I’ve kind of changed my style—I mean you can still hear the classic Tele style in there, but I wanted to make something more in that groove-oriented feel.

AV: What prompted you to go off in this direction?

JW: I was kind of getting pigeon-holed, or pushed is a better word, into that classic rock corner. And I just wanted to change up my music and write more groove-oriented instrumentals and break into that jam band scene where you can really stretch the songs out. What we’ve done is taken the studio record and I’ve added new parts now—which was my plan all along, to make a record and as we play out live, add new parts to them.

AV: Just through improvisation?

JW: Yeah, and let them really expand…that is what’s happened. So when you hear “Troll” or “Percolator,” you’ll hear us go into a Led Zeppelin tune at the very end and stretch into some other chords. And the same with “Troll,” we go into this whole feedback thing that you never hear on the record. So the live shows have been fun that way.

AV: How has everything changed? I mean, you had a career before The Band, but that’s how a lot of folks came to know you—during that era. Do you ever play with the remaining guys?

JW: Yeah, we get together and do these private, corporate things—like private parties. I’ve gone over and played Levon Helm’s Ramble. I’ve played over there several times, at Levon’s studio. And that’s been fun.

AV: Is everybody still up in that neck of the woods? Around Woodstock?

JW: Well, Garth’s here. Randy, the other drummer, is here. Levon’s here, and Richard Bell is still in Canada. So me, Garth, Levon and Randy get together and do some shows every once in a while. Not as The Band, but as a group of musicians getting together. And that’s always fun. It’s good to see everybody.

AV: Was this new record made with the same guys who are touring in support of it?

JW: Well, the cool thing is I was lucky enough to meet [drummer] Rodney Holmes, who played with Santana on that Smooth record, or whatever it was…Supernatural. And he toured with him and then he’s been with Steve Kimock for the last five years—him and Mitch Stein, the other guitarist. But Rodney is just a phenomenon on the drums. If you haven’t experienced Rodney—I mean, I like Kimock’s songwriting and I used to go down to see him, and the other half of the reason I went was to see Rodney. And I asked Rodney if he’d like to play on my album, and he agreed and he just took the material to such another level. But that was it, and we never played again. Then, this past May he started working with us because Kimock was doing other stuff. And Rodney was free. So if anybody comes out, even if they haven’t heard of me, they should come out just listen to Rodney play the drums. Unbelievable.

AV: Have you been playing out a lot as a unit?

JW: Yeah, we’ve been playing all summer long throughout the Northeast. Maryland, Pennsylvania…

AV: And the summer is prime season for those jam festivals.

JW: We haven’t done many of those yet, because I’m just starting to get known in that circle.

AV: That’s what I was curious about. Whether the word was getting out.

JW: I think the word is starting to get out…we’re on live archive, you know, etree.org? People can download a bunch of shows. The tapers are coming out. We allow people to tape our shows. And they’ve been coming out…but it’s gonna take a little time. They know Mitch and Rodney from playing with Kimock, and the bass player Steve Lucas.

AV: I’d think that a lot of these younger folks who seem to comprise the jam crowd—I mean, a lot of their parents were probably into The Band. Not that The Band was known for long, extended solos…

JW: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And we do an instrumental version of “The Weight” called “The Weight Jam” that you’ll hear up in Buffalo.

You can learn more about Jim Weider and hear song samples at Myspace.com/jimweiderband and www.jimweider.com.