The Vandoliers, with out trans woman Jenni Rose as lead singer, are currently
on tour in Europe. (Photo by Andree Brown)
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
Currently, the alt-country band Vandoliers is touring across Europe in support of its 2025 release, Life Behind Bars. Earlier this spring, the band released the protest song “Girl on the Run,” which feels strongly appropriate as frontwoman Jenni Rose (she/her) finds herself overseas. The singer and musician came out as trans last year amid the tumultuous political climate and found nothing but love and support from her bandmates.
“[This] is a protest song about a trans woman from Texas running for her life with her family,” Rose explained upon the song’s release in April. “It’s a desperate feeling and my biggest fear.
“I felt called to sing it when we were asked for an encore at Pendleton, Ore.’s Jackalope Jamboree. At the time, I performed it by myself, and I felt the connection instantly,” she added. “I called Ted Hutt to produce it, and we recorded it on our day off in L.A. while the National Guard was marching into a park just a mile down the road.”
The Grammy-winning producer who’s worked with Gaslight Anthem and Flogging Molly has often collaborated with Vandoliers. The track was the band’s first new music release since its 2025 album. They released the EP Afterglow in early June.
Rose first talked about her coming out to Rolling Stone in 2025, addressing both addiction and gender dysphoria which would be documented throughout last year’s album.
As she began her journey as Jenni, immediately there was a cautious air: “There is a lot of fear right now, and the rhetoric is being turned up every day,” she said. There was this uneasiness I acquired coming out last year that I never had before.”
Naturally, she turned to music. Plus, Election Day still lingered in the air, which inspired her to write the track.
When she first introduced it to the world, it was at a live performance and seemingly, an impromptu decision.
“I played it when the band needed a break during a show in Denver and then the encore in Oregon,” she said. “I was pretty scared, and it was a super-country crowd at Jackalope, and we weren’t headlining at all. So encores are unusual.”
The reaction was a visceral experience for Rose. The first verse quieted the crowd.
“Afterward, they threw roses, and it was this beautiful and welcoming reaction,” she said. “At a festival, the adrenaline was just pumping for me.”
Those moments proved something to Rose — that Vandoliers needed to lay the track down, and fast.
“After begging my little trans heart out, the band and the label approved, so we went to L.A. to record it.”
Since performing and releasing the song, Rose has found an added community of fans who share those feelings. Queer fans, trans youth, parents and “even Christians” have gone to talk to Rose at Vandoliers shows. They and Rose all come from one place.
“Acknowledging the fear makes you feel braver, so I know it’s like helping or empowering people,” she said. “It’s the most important song I’ve ever written.”
Even though it was a high moment for Rose, the timing of it all was complicated. As the singer was set to release the track that was inherently affirming, the residual from two mass shootings by self-identified transgender individuals remained heavily in the air. Plus, there was Rose’s lyrics:
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
“It’s like the song became more relevant but also more dangerous,” she said. “I’m arguably a pacifist and this wasn’t about violence, but self-protection. I still thought it was important and beautiful so the urgency to get it out was high.”
Having a supportive band not only helped through the song’s saga but also with Rose’s own revelation.
She came out at a time she was making some major life changes. She quit smoking, got sober, lost weight.
She recalled, “I had been insufferable with those changes, so in our van from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque, I stood and told them ‘I gotta say something: I realize I’m a trans woman.’
“My buddy driving started crying and our trumpet player gave me this nc, and they were so warm and welcoming.
“Our dynamic has changed, but we’re still the same — just closer.”
Rose said she’s now a better artist — more open and vulnerable. “Girl on the Run” isn’t just a protest; it’s a declaration and an assurance of who she is now. And she is celebrating her first Pride as an out trans woman.
“You’re looking at an aligned person now,” she said. “But I’m still a baby gay. I just crossed my one year in April when I came out, so this is kinda my first Pride.
“Being on the road, I won’t hit any of the festivities, but I hope the song finds a queer audience, because it’s meant for queer people, trans people. And I’m proud of that.”