Phoebe Bridgers’ Fallon duet partner is folk cult hero Dan Reeder
Dan Reeder joined Phoebe Bridgers for a bare-bones “Lost Boys” on The Tonight Show, putting a cult folk songwriter in a rare TV spotlight.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Phoebe Bridgers brought a surprise face to late-night TV on July 15: Dan Reeder, the cult folk songwriter whose devotees include boygenius, Jack Antonoff and Jason Isbell.
Bridgers performed a stripped-back version of “Lost Boys” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, one day after playing the same song on the program with an all-kids band, according to Rolling Stone. As the camera widened during the performance, Reeder appeared beside her in a white “New York” baseball cap, jeans and a black T-shirt.
Rolling Stone identified Reeder as the singer beside Bridgers, with David Grier and J.T. Thomas also among the musicians on the televised performance.
Who is Dan Reeder?
Reeder is a singer-songwriter, visual artist and instrument maker with a devoted following built around plainspoken, strange and often funny songs. His writing, as described by Rolling Stone, can turn a stray thought or nonsense phrase into something that lands with unexpected weight.
Since 2004, Reeder has released music through Oh Boy Records, the label associated with the late John Prine. His catalog includes bluntly titled songs such as “Food and Pussy” and “Bitch Nation,” according to Rolling Stone.
Reeder told Tape Op that he “broke down and cried” after learning Prine liked his songs, after Reeder had sent in a cassette without an invitation.
One of Reeder’s best-known oddities repeats a single idea about metamorphosis: “Born a worm/Spins a coccoon/Goes to sleep/Wakes up a butterfly/What the fuck is that about?” Another song, “Work Song,” is built around the repeated line, “I got all the fuckin’ work I need.”
Why Bridgers fans may know him
Bridgers had already shown her Reeder fandom before the Fallon appearance. In 2023, boygenius, her group with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus, covered Reeder’s “Stay Down, Man” during a SiriusXM session.
Other high-profile musicians have been waving the Reeder flag, too. Rolling Stone reported that Jack Antonoff called Reeder “one of my all-time favorite songwriters” before performing “Maybe” last year with Waxahatchee, Weyes Blood and Reeder himself.
Jason Isbell has said on Instagram that he “loves him so much,” according to Rolling Stone. Actor and musician Whitmer Thomas is also a fan and brought Reeder onto his 2022 track “South Florida.”
Reeder is based in Germany and does not often tour in the United States, Rolling Stone reported. After a 2026 live album with his daughter Peggy Reeder, who sings harmony and plays guitar with him, he is preparing for a major U.S. tour in 2027, including a date at New York’s Town Hall.
In a 2024 interview with Tape Op, Reeder explained part of his creative approach: “I’ve got strategies, and one of them is to notice something about myself that’s ridiculous.” He added, “I don’t try to write funny songs. I write normal songs.”
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.