About Tim Weed
"There's a group of musicians who have been redefining the banjo. People like Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, and Bill Keith . . . Tim Weed is one of those musicians."
-Duane Inglish, Live Oak Music FestivalTim Weed is an acclaimed acoustic musician whose music traverses genres and defies categorization. Best known as a classical banjo composer, he's also a singer-songwriter and "master of stringed instruments" including guitar, and mandolin.
His collection of original virtuoso classical works for the 5-string banjo, Milagros, is regularly featured on National Public Radio and has been highly praised. He has been invited to perform this music at the Arizona Chamber Music Festival and for the Dalai Lama.
Also known by his original name, Tim Wiedenkeller, Tim began as a bluegrass prodigy on banjo in Southern California. He started playing at age 16, and two years later was travelling with the high-powered young bluegrass band Last Chance. During its few years of existence, Last Chance helped produce some of today's most influential bluegrass musicians, including Stuart Duncan, Gene Libbea, and Alison Brown - who all became Grammy Award winners.
During the 80's Tim turned his interest away from the banjo, toward guitar, voice, and studio recording. He spent 15 years performing, writing, producing, and recording in a wide variety of musical styles with the best musicians and recording studios in Los Angeles. He also travelled extensively during this time, and was profoundly influenced by the musical cultures he was exposed to in the Orient, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific.
He rediscovered the banjo in the 90's and began playing, composing, and recording his own virtuosic classical music. This work has been praised for "redefining the banjo" with a new level of sophistication, complexity and beauty, and revealing its similarities to instruments from around the world.
In addition to guitar, banjo, and mandolin, Tim also plays a custom-made 7-stringed instrument which he designed and named "The Sevan" — a hybrid of the banjo and the guitar (Read more about The Sevan). Tim is joined in concerts by Will Clipman, four-time Grammy nominee and percussionist for R. Carlos Nakai.
In 2008 Tim began recording with Dave Matthews Band for a movie soundtrack and CD. He worked with award-winning producer, composer, and musician Steve Wood on this project - Wood has produced music with Sting, George Harrison, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Loggins, and Crosby-Nash.
He now lives part-time in both northern California and southern Arizona, working as a concert musician, recording artist and sideman. He's a yogi, vegan, naturalist, environmentalist, surfer, and father of two children.
Live audiences know Tim as an exciting, captivating performer who's full of surprises. His concerts showcase his cutting-edge acoustic music, journeying through a boundless mix of classical music, bluegrass, jazz, rock and traditional music, and incorporating exotic styles inspired by his world travels. His concerts always include improvisation and dazzling interplay between band members, epitomizing what great live music is all about.