Inside the Magic of Bertha: Grateful Drag

The first time Bertha: Grateful Drag performed, it was meant to be a one-off show. The seven-piece, which covers the music of the Grateful Dead while decked out in drag, made its debut in April 2023 at a benefit to raise money for Inclusion Tennessee, a nonprofit that supports the LGBTQ+ community. It was particularly important to the seven bandmates: The state had been passing anti-drag and anti-trans laws, and this was a way to both protest and offer ally-ship.

“Melody Walker and Caitlin Doyle, who are the two singers in the band, had been kicking around ideas for a new project after COVID,” recalls Jacob Groopman, who handles bass and vocals. “They had the idea for an all-female Grateful Dead project, but some of us who are friends with them, including me, were like, ‘Well, we want to be in the Grateful Dead project as well.’

“It was kind of this joke for a while that if everybody dressed in drag, then we could do it,” he continues, “and it was never all that serious, until Tennessee started passing these anti-drag, anti-trans laws around the early part of 2023, late 2022. So that was when we’re like, ‘Well, why don’t we actually do it?'”

The show was a big hit, and the band decided to just keep on truckin’ with the project. “Two years later, here we are,” says Groopman. “It became a thing that was really pretty unexpected.”

The blend of drag and the Dead may be what prompts people to check out Bertha: Grateful Drag, but the band’s pristine harmonies and sonics are what keep fans coming back for more. The members, who are all based in Nashville, mostly have bluegrass backgrounds, Groopman says, which adds another flair to the sound.

While many members identify as LGBTQ+, most hadn’t dressed in drag before that first performance, Groopman says. But tutorials from queens have helped them level up their skills, and they put as much care into their makeup as they do their music. “If we’re gonna try to play Grateful Dead music, well, we need to make sure that the drag is equal, out of respect,” he adds. “And if we’re gonna put a lot of time into the drag, we need to put a lot of time into music.”

The members even have their own drag names: Groopman is Big Sissy Bertha; Melody Walker (vocals, percussion) is Daddy Bertha, Caitlin Doyle (vocals, percussion) is Mommy Bertha, Mike Wheeler (vocals, guitar) is Baby Bobby Barbie Bertha, Thomas Bryan Eaton (guitar) is Auntie Bertha, Justin Vorp (drums) is Cousin Bertha and Alex Jordan (keys) is also Cousin Bertha.

And what they’ve all learned is that the Grateful Dead and drag go together just as well as the Dead and LSD. “I think the main reason it works is the Dead were always massive advocates for free expression,” Groopman says. “I think it comes out of this need to express yourself however you want. And for some reason, these two things, the music and the drag, they work together in a way that was very unexpected for us, and for the audience, too.”

The feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive,” he says. “The crowds that are showing up to our shows are so incredible. The vibes are super high. Everybody’s so excited to be there. There’s a lot of folks who are old Deadheads who never thought they’d see anything like this. There’s also a pretty large and awesome community of queer Deadheads, and as soon as we put out that we were doing a show, there was an organization that reached out called Queer Deadheads that was like, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.'”

Of course, the Dead always had queer fans, but the band wasn’t known for it in the same way as, say, Cher or Madonna. Bertha has provided a platform for those fans, and proceeds from the shows, which are hosted by local drag queens or kings, go to a LGBTQ+ nonprofit. When Bertha comes to Denver for a two-night run at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom on December 5 and 6, it will benefit Bread and Roses Legal Center, and the shows will be hosted by Sage Daytona (night one) and Morningstar Darkling (night two).

“A lot of us are queer in the band, and that’s been really meaningful for a lot of queer Deadheads who have never had any sort of representation from a band within the scene,” Groopman says. “The Grateful Dead were always an early supporter…and one of the first bands that really talked about the AIDS epidemic publicly. They were always very open and out about their support for free expression. But there’s definitely never been, like, a super-gay Grateful Dead cover band.”

That’s where Bertha: Grateful Drag comes in. But despite many warm welcomes in person, the band has gotten its share of hateful messages on social media. “We have gotten a fair amount of vitriol over the last few years,” Groopman notes. “It usually has to do with the ads you put up on Meta, but none of it has been direct violence threats or things like, ‘Jerry would hate this,’ or ‘How could you do this to the Grateful Dead?'”

Even so, the band always has security around when it loads in and out of venues, he says, because “the political violent rhetoric from the right is real and frequent and very much a thing.”

The musicians don’t need to worry as much in the Mile High City, where they definitely feel welcome. Many members had played here already in bluegrass groups, and the first time Bertha played in Denver, the band had its biggest ticket sales.

“When we came to Denver a year ago for our very first time, it was the biggest crowd that we’ve ever had,” Groopman says. “We were really blown away, and cannot wait to return. Denver definitely got it. It is definitely a place that understands us.”

Bertha: Grateful Drag, 7:30 p.m. Friday, December 5, and Saturday, December 6, Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, 2637 Welton Street. Tickets are available at cervantesmasterpiece.com.