US all-female Beatles tribute band say it’s a dream come true to play in Liverpool

An American all-female Beatles tribute band, who’ve flown into Liverpool for International Beatleweek, say it’s a dream come true to play here.

Beatles tribute band, Penny Lane, who got together in Nashville just over three years ago, will perform 11 shows during the week-long festival.

They include gigs at the Cavern Club and Cavern Pub, and the Jacaranda where John Lennon, Stuart Sutcliffe, George Harrison and Paul McCartney were all regulars as students.

For the four-piece it’s a chance to pay homage to the Fab Four’s songs in a different way – and to literally follow in the footsteps of their inspiration.

“Playing on stage at the Cavern is a pinch-me moment, it’s a dream come true that feels like it can’t be real,” says Jay Rin, who is the band’s Lennon. “Walking the same streets, going to the same places and playing the same stages is like being blessed by the spirit of the Beatles.

“We’re potentially the only all-female tribute band that honours the parts of John, Paul, George and Ringo with what we sing and the instrumentation.

“I think there is a certain novelty about it, and when people hear about us at first they think, ‘oh that’s different’, but then we just do our best to deliver songs in such a way that do them justice. 

“In our live performances, once the stage energy is flowing, we’re just having a blast up there and we do rock it out but we do our best to replicate the original too.

“Each one of us watches videos and studies them so that we can pay proper homage to the songs but we also have a great deal of fun with everything we do.”

Penny Lane came together at the beginning of 2022 after Sami Jo, who is McCartney, had the idea to start a female Beatles tribute.

“She was watching a concert with another tribute band and she thought, I want to do this, but I can’t because I’m a woman,” explains Jay. “Then she realised there were probably other female musicians also feeling this way so she put out an ad on social media.

“I saw her post in December 2021 saying she was looking for members to start the band with her, I responded and joined in February 2022. At the time they did already have a John in the group, and my first instrument was drums so I joined as Ringo, but then our John ended up starting a family so her life went in a different direction.

“When that role opened up, Sami asked if I wanted to be John and I felt like that was who I was meant to be.

“I’ve loved John since I was a little girl, my dad had a greatest hits solo record of his when I was about 6 or 7, and at that age those songs just spoke to me, so to get to tribute him later in life makes sense.”

The band in its current line-up – Sami Jo as Paul, Jay as Lennon, Maddie Rose as George and Stephie G as Ringo – played their first International Beatleweek in 2023. This year will be their third consecutive festival in Liverpool.

Last year they played a European tour, including a sold-out show at the legendary Troubadour in London, and in 2025 they’ve played a succession of dates across the US including Beatlefest in New York. 

Jay says, despite all being in their 20s and 30s, she and her bandmates never get tired of playing songs that date back to well before they were born.

“We get all ages coming to our gigs and there’s one particular family-friendly festival we do called Abbey Road on the River, in Indiana, where people bring their kids.

“It’s amazing to see how many children get excited by Beatles songs, a future generation. I think the music is still so powerful, it’s still speaking to them. 

“It feels really good too when we have other women come up to us and say, ‘I’ve always wanted to do this, but I never thought it was possible.’ Seeing that impact, especially on young girls who want to play one day, makes us all really happy and grateful.”

Check out their instagram here.

Read about the Liverpool brothers who have reunited for International Beatleweek 2025.

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