Watch Molly Tuttle + Billy & The Kids’ Harry Styles Cover Give Flight To Adventurous ‘Bird Song’

Billy & The Kids returned to the stage on Thursday, April 28 for a Fleur De Dead concert in New Orleans. Bandleader Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann celebrated his 77th birthday on Sunday by sharing official video of the group featuring special guest Molly Tuttle working a cover of Harry Styles’ “Sunflower, Vol. 6” into GD classic “Bird Song” from the show at the Saenger Theatre.

The core band includes Kreutzmann on drums, Aron Magner on keyboards, Reed Mathis on bass, Tom Hamilton on guitar and James Casey on saxophone. Both guitarist Molly Tuttle and percussionist Jeff Franca emerged towards the middle of the first set and stuck around for the rest of the concert. Bassist George Porter Jr. and percussionist Wally Ingram also made guest appearances at Fleur De Dead, which was the first Billy & The Kids performance since a summer 2021 two-night stand at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle handled lead vocals on “Sunflower, Vol. 6” and the ensuing “Bird Song.” Tuttle played acoustic guitar throughout the 25-minute sequence. Harry Styles originally released “Sunflower, Vol. 6” on his 2019 album, Fine Line, while the Grateful Dead debuted “Bird Song” live in February 1971.

On-demand video of the full Fleur De Dead concert is available for purchase via nugs.net for “another day or two.” Bill The Drummer described the magical “Sunflower, Vol. 6″/”Bird Song” segment, writing:

Dear Friends,

Covering Harry Styles and then taking a personal favorite Grateful Dead classic deep with my band Billy & The Kids last week was so much fun; I can’t stop watching this segment from the livestream and I decided that, on my birthday, I wanted to share it with all of you.

A great song reimagined, a great melody reinvented, and then a wild, exploratory jam that carves fresh tracks under a classic tune that I’ve loved for more than fifty years now, making it feel renewed and redefined – because even at 77, life can be inspiring; every day is a new opportunity. That message is embedded in this music and it is my birthday wish to all of you.

Thanks to nugs.net for offering up this segment from their beautiful livestream of the entire evening. For my birthday, they extended the window for another day or two. Get the entire show and then watch on-demand at your leisure. -> nugs.net/billyandthekids

I’m so grateful – truly – that I still get to play the rhythms that literally move me, that we all get to come together while dancing our own dances — whether on stage or in the nosebleeds — in celebration, in release, in a shared experience. It’s truly a sacred space, isn’t it? We’re lucky that we get to do it at all, let alone for this long. Thank you all for your love, support, and birthday wishes. Hope to see all your beautiful faces this coming year!

NFA,
Billy

Check out Billy & The Kids with Molly Tuttle and Jeff Franca’s “Sunflower, Vol. 6” > “Bird Song” below: