Texas alt-country band Vandoliers have returned with the new protest song “Girl on the Run,” out now on Break Maiden Records / Thirty Tigers. The track was written by frontwoman Jenni (Gin-ee) Rose during her first tour with the band after coming out as trans last year. The song was announced last week just ahead of the launch of the band’s spring tour.
The song details a trans woman running for her life:
Well it’s not what I want
But it’s gotta get done
I grab my purse
And I load my gun
I won’t bow to anyone
I’ll be out by dawn
I’m a girl on the run
The track was produced by Vandoliers collaborator and Grammy-winning producer Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem, Flogging Molly, Lucero).
“‘Girl on the Run’ is a protest song about a trans woman from Texas running for her life with her family. It’s a desperate feeling and my biggest fear,” the singer said in last week’s press release. “I felt called to sing it when we were asked for an encore at Pendleton, Oregon’s Jackalope Jamboree. At the time I performed it by myself and felt the connection instantly. I called Ted Hutt to produce it and we recorded it on our day off in LA while the national guard was marching into a park just a mile down the road. It’s the most important song I’ve ever written.”
Rose spoke with Rolling Stone detailing her journey through addiction and gender dysphoria – a journey that culminated in her decision to come out as trans which was documented in the 2025 studio album Life Behind Bars.
The band has taken the song on the road with a new spring tour supporting fellow North Texas band Toadies. Vandoliers will next appear in Dallas on May 2 at the Longhorn Ballroom & Backyard Amphitheater and then as part of the Lost Evenings IX lineup on Sept. 27 at the Southside Ballroom.
Listen to “Girl on the Run” below:
–Rich Lopez