Birdchild pumping up the New Year’s Eve party at Riverside Casino

The moniker “Birdchild” is a combination of vocalist guitarist's names, Drew Birdsall and Justin Goodchild. The two write and record original songs, but their bread and butter is covers.

Birdchild will ring in the New Year co-headlining with Pork Tornadoes on Sunday in the Riverside Casino Event Center.

“New Year’s is one of the biggest nights of the year,” Birdsall said while calling from his Iowa City home. “People want to party, and we love getting out in front of huge, energetic crowds. And that’s what we’re going to be playing to when we go to Riverside. It’ll be the place to be for New Year’s Eve.”

Before the two bands hit the stage, they will get together to make sure there is no crossover.

“We’ll be certain not to cover the same songs,” Birdsall said. “Expect a high-energy show.”

Birdsall already is taking care of his set list. Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA,” Blink 182’s “What's My Age Again” and Nelly’s “Ride With Me” are some of the songs that will take revelers into 2024.

“A lot of the songs are singalong songs,” Birdsall said. “People love singing along with songs by bands like Tears for Fears. There are so many great artists from the ’80s. It was a great era.”

Birdchild delivers three tiers of music: ’80s synth pop tunes, such as Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”; late ’90s hits, like TLC’s “Waterfalls”; and contemporary tunes by recording artists such as Harry Styles and Katy Perry.

“It's best to mix it up,” Birdsall said. “That way, you keep everyone happy. The audience loves it when you go back to certain eras, and they love it when you play what’s happening now.”

No recording artist is hotter than Taylor Swift, who made the Birdchild set list.

“We love doing Taylor Swift’s ‘Antihero,’ ” Birdsall said. “That’s a highlight of our set. The response is tremendous. If you’re a cover band it would be dumb not to play a Taylor Swift song. She is a hit machine, but her songs are so well crafted and fun to play.

“Playing Swift songs is a win-win, since the audience can’t get enough of her and it’s a blast singing her material.”

Birdchild, which also includes bassist Ian Draves, keyboardist Ryan Plotz and drummer Lukas Jack, delivers its own twist on covers.

“We do a synthy version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams,’ ” Birdsall said. “That makes it interesting for us.”

Des Moines is home base for Birdchild, but the Spencer native and his family won’t leave Iowa City.

“We’ve bounced around, but we really love Iowa City,” he said. “It’s home for my wife and our three kids, who are 7, 4 and 1. I think it’s a great place for our children to grow up.”

When Birdsall isn’t focusing on Birdchild and duo work with Goodchild, he works on solo acoustic tunes.

“I make time for it all, since it’s about music, which is what I’m passionate about,” he said. “It’s a nice balance, working on original songs and then going to play hits in front of a hyped-up audience that wants to go out and have fun. This is our fifth year doing the full band cover thing, and I have no regrets.”

Part of why Birdsall is looking forward to the New Year’s gig so much is that it will give him hang time with his Pork Tornadoes pals.

“We’re really close with those guys,” Birdsall said. “So when we see them at the end of the month to close out the year, it will be a celebration of friendship and a celebration of covers.”