artists » Jim Weider

UPDATE 10/2009- Jim Weider’s PRoJECT PERCoLAToR has released Pulse, a new album featuring 11 awesome tracks, varied in styles and full of killer tones. The album is available on Multi Media CD which includes some great video as well!

Jim was nice enough to offer us some tunes from Pulse that illustrate the power of his VOX Tonelab…check them out below! All are the sound of one of his favorite vintage guitars through the Tonelab and “Release Yourself” and “Two Worlds” also involved some cool re-amping techniques with the unit.

“Release Yourself”
“Two Worlds Intro”
“Two Worlds”

Be sure to visit www.jimweider.com and www.myspace.com/jimweiderband, www.facebook.com/jimweider for more!

You heard it right. Jim Weider is a master of the Telecaster and the VOX Tonelab, which in fact came in very handy on his latest release, Percolator. The Tonelab can be heard all over the album coupled with his ‘52 and ‘53 Telecasters, ‘60 Guild Starfire, ‘71 Marshall, Fender Blackface deluxe reverb and tube Echoplex. Taking the stock sounds and customizing them to his liking, Jim mainly used the Tonelab for effects purposes, plugging in directly to record. “I really like timing my echoes with the Tonelab,” said Jim. “Being able to use tap tempo on everything. On the tremolo, on the echoes, it’s just fantastic! You can get some really cool atmospheric tones as well.”

Percolator is Jim’s most recent recording, and it was produced primarily in his home studio in Woodstock, New York. “All the guitar work was done in my studio where I recorded and engineered it,” Jim commented. “I wrote the songs to loops, either I made one up or sampled it. I pretty much did all the work here, crankin’ amps and using the Tonelab!”

An instrumental record, Percolator features John Medeski on keyboards, Tony Levin on bass, and Rodney Holmes on drums. This all-star lineup created an album that combines rock, jazz, and blues, with Jim leading the way with his ultra clean, and often fast, technique and touch. Live, the Jim Weider Band consists of Randy Ciarlante (drums), Jesse Gress (guitar) and Daniel Grimsland (bass).

Jim Weider earned great praise as lead guitar player for Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductees, The Band, from 1985 to 1999. Since then he has released three solo albums and has performed, produced, and recorded with such artists as Mavis Staples, Kim Wilson, Tom Pacheco and Los Lobos. In fact, Jim handled guitar duties on five tracks for Mavis Staples record, Have A Little Faith. He also wrote her hit title track from that album, which won the award for Best Blues Song of the Year at the 2005 W.C. Handy Awards.

The Jim Weider Band is currently on tour throughout the northeast in support of the Percolator album. So go check them out, as they are one act not to be missed. For more information and tour dates visit: http://www.jimweider.com/

By Kenny Kuehn