Hot take: Bands that play original music are better than cover bands, according to everyone. End of story.
The reality for some working bands, however, is that cover songs pay the bills. Sister Funk, an all-female quintet from New Haven led by Denise Troy and Kristina Jean, has gigged steadily since 2000. Early on, the band independently produced three full-length CDs of original music and one greatest hits compilation.
But when it became increasingly difficult to land substantial-paying gigs as an all-original group, Sister Funk wove cover songs into its sets. The money they made went toward studio time, T-shirts and other merchandise, and paying its band members. Before long, Sister Funk was known as a cover band.
“We lost sight of the original project,” Jean says.
“We got enticed by the money,” Troy adds.
Now, as Run Jenny, the five current members of Sister Funk — Jean, Troy, guitarist Kathy Auburn, bassist Jane-Lorrieaux DaSilva and drummer Kathy Steahle — are back to playing original music. Run Jenny plays a short set at the Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 3:30 p.m.
“We started over with the five of us,” Jean says. “[Run Jenny] is ours. We own it together. … We’re saying goodbye to the previous members who were instrumental in making Sister Funk a success.”
The road from Sister Funk to Run Jenny was nearly a decade in the making. The first lineup was stable, Troy and Jean say, until musicians started to peel off. “It was really hard to find new members,” Jean says. “It was a revolving door. We even came back to some [musicians] a few times.”
Auburn, DaSilva and Steahle joined Sister Funk seven years ago, and the sound shifted from funk to blues and country rock. Troy and Jean wrote new songs, but they hesitated to spend money on studio time or new band photos.
“When you’ve been around for so long, you expect the floor to drop out,” Troy says.
But the band jelled, and Troy and Jean wanted to grant the newer members a degree of ownership over the new sound. A name change, they thought, would signal a shift.
“Whenever we would apply for awards for original artists, we were thought of as a cover band,” Troy says. “It was a really tough decision for us, because I knew we’d have to start from scratch with Run Jenny.”
They also worried about Sister Funk fans.
“We’ve had such a devout following, and that made it scary to rebrand ourselves,” Troy says. “We have fans out there from 2000 and 2001 that have our logo tattooed on them. They have our lyrics on their body. I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, are we committing musical suicide?'”
In 2014, as Run Jenny, the quintet released “Therapy Sessions,” its first CD, with 10 songs written by Jean and Troy. “Empty” and “Invisible,” holdovers from Sister Funk, were re-recorded; remaining songs range between guitar-heavy, blues-rock stompers (“Get My Whiskey On”), piano-rock power ballads (“Nothing Compares”) and slightly funkier fare (“Oh I,” which features Jean on alto sax). “Run Jenny,” the namesake track, is a minor-key rocker with the swagger of mid-’70s Heart, about an obsessive, shut-in lover who runs from commitment: “You push love away so it won’t hurt you,” Jean sings, “You shut me out just to play it safe / Rather be alone than to accept my kiss.”
Some Sister Funk fans — the ones who like the covers — took issue. “It was for those particular fans that we felt having two separate groups will work out for them,” Troy says. “They won’t be disappointed coming to a Sister Funk show. It’ll be the same thing they’re used to seeing.”
But recently, Troy says, new faces are popping up at Run Jenny shows. “They don’t want to hear covers,” she says. “They’re sick of that. … We’re starting to get a whole new fan base now.”
Club owners are harder to convince.
“Those owners who know us as Sister Funk: they want the name, Sister Funk, because they feel like it’s the name people are going to recognize,” Jean says. “They don’t care if we play originals, but they want the name.”
Run Jenny plays Locals Live at Mohegan Sun, a five-week contest that begins on Oct. 28, where the band has a chance to compete for a $5,000 grand prize.
“It’s a bucket list for me, to play Mohegan Sun,” Troy says. “I pitched this as Run Jenny, and they picked us out of thousands of selections. I’m really psyched for that.”
RUN JENNY plays the Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 3:30 p.m. at Welles Street, Riverfront Park, in Glastonbury. Admission is $5. Information here.
