Photo by Rene Huemer

Last night, The Decemberists returned to New York’s Central Park SummerStage as part of their Arise from the Bunkers! tour. During the encore, the group invited out Broadway superstar and Hamilton creator Lin‐Manuel Miranda.

The Decemberists and Miranda performed “Ben Franklin’s Song,” a song Miranda penned for  Hamilton but was unable to include it in the final version of the now iconic production. The showrunner, who is a longtime fan of the Pacific Northwest ensemble, asked the Decemberists to record a version of the tune as the first installment in his “Hamildrops” series of Hamilton-related content in 2017. The band offered their own spin on the selection and said that Miranda “imagined the songs being Decemberist-y” when he originally wrote the tune.

Since then, The Decemberists performed “Ben Franklin’s Song” regularly in 2018 and as well as during their current outing. The ensemble’s tour continues in Vienna, Va., this evening at the Wolf Trap.

Find tickets to the Wolf Trap performance here.

The Decemberists
Central Park SummerStage – New York, N.Y.
Aug. 23, 2022

Set: Leslie Anne Levine, Sucker’s Prayer, Song for Myla Goldberg, Shiny, Rox in the Box, William Fitzwilliam (New song), The Engine Driver, The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid, Calamity Song, Down by the Water(with Dirty Old Town harmonica intro), Severed, Rusalka, Rusalka / Wild Rushes, I Was Meant for the Stage

Enc.: June Hymn, Ben Franklin’s Song (with Lin‐Manuel Miranda), Sons & Daughters