Hiss Golden Messenger Debuts Grateful Dead Cover ‘Bird Song’

Hiss Golden Messenger kicked off their latest tour in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night. The band debuted a cover of the Grateful Dead classic “Bird Song” during the show at The Englewood.

Bandleader MC Taylor is backed by bassist Alex Bingham, drummer Nicholas Falk, guitarist Chris Boerner and keyboardist Sam Fribush on the tour which runs through December 11. Taylor recently performed as part of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh‘s Phil Lesh & Friends band for the first time on October 29 and 30 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

“Bird Song” was the penultimate song of the night at the tour opener. Hiss Golden Messenger also worked a bit of “Franklin’s Tower” into “Lucia” in Hummelstown. The band offered a nice mix of material throughout Tuesday’s show, with three tracks a piece from Heart Like A Levee (2016), Lateness Of Dancers (2014) and Terms Of Surrender (2019) making the setlist. HGM also played two songs each from Hallelujah Anyhow (2017) and Quietly Blowing It (2021) as part of the concert.

Hiss Golden Messenger went on to perform the Grateful Dead’s “Bertha” with special guest Amy Helm at The Egg in Albany, New York on Wednesday. Watch the group take on “Bird Song” last night at New York City’s Webster Hall thanks to fan-shot video footage captured by Graig Adler:

Setlist