The Weight Band with special guests Rees Shad & The Conversations

Composer/Fictioneer **Rees Shad** and his band **the Conversations** will be initiating a great night of music with their swinging hybrid of Americana, Folk, Blues, and Jazz. A perfect setup for Jimmy Weider and his bandmates in **The Weight Band**.

“Jimmy is literally one of my favorite guitarists ever,” says Shad. “He’s a true master of the telecaster and an incredibly strong songwriter as well. We’ve met up in the studio a few times, but this is the first time I’ll get to share a stage with him. It will be an incredible night!”

**Jimmy Weider**, of course, is a former member of both The Band and The Levon Helm Band, for which he slung that telecaster (and many other instruments) for over 15 years. The Weight Band formed in 2013 inside the Levon Helm’s famed Woodstock barn and they’ve been performing their original songs as well as classics of The Band for audiences the world over.

**Rees Shad** grew up in New York City’s music scene absorbing that city’s downtown music scene from Gerde’s Folk City to CBGB’s, ingesting the urban world, its inherent rhythms and human electricity. Years working as a sideman and studio musician working with a variety of bands helped Shad sharpen his instincts as both a songwriter and a performer before moving to Upstate New York to build the Sweetfish media companies and start making music in earnest. From his debut album ***Walls* **(1993) to ***The Watcher ***(2019) and continuing through songs like “The Mrs & Me” (from The ***Riggley Road Stories****, 1997*) and “Esmé” (from ***Half a World Away****, 2014*) Shad has proven to be a serial iterator creating intelligent and moving songs in a wide variety of styles.

The Conversations feature longstanding Shad collaborator/drummer **Bobby Kay**, bassist **Jeff Link**, and percussionist **Carlos Valdez** who help the songwriter explore a more improvisational approach to performing his meticulously crafted narratives. This has resulted in performances akin to the freedoms found in live jazz. The band will be performing songs from Shad’s upcoming album, ***One Glass at a Time***, featuring songs possessing irresistible melodies and imbued with a style & wisdom not found anywhere else in contemporary music. The group will be sharing these and other songs from Shad’s 30+ albums.

Located in the heart of beautiful Berkshire County, at 63 Flansburg Avenue in Dalton, Massachusetts, **The Stationery Factory** is a converted industrial building that most recently housed the former Crane & Co. stationery division. The Factory is home to over 20 local businesses and artisans, including the Stationery Factory MainStage where this show will take place Tickets for the event start at 30$, with more premium seating options available.

More at:

www.ReesShadMusic.Com