Their name is Princess! And they are funky!
A two-woman Prince cover band will pay tribute to the Purple One at two shows at Brooklyn Bowl on Sept. 23–24. Princess, which stars “Saturday Night Live” alum Maya Rudolph and singer-songwriter Gretchen Lieberum, is not an imitation of the late singer, but is an ode 2 his spirit and his persona, said Lieberum.
“We don’t embody Prince as much as embody our 12-year-old selves singing and dancing to Prince songs into a hairbrush in front of the mirror,” she said. “That joyful, silly, intense love you have for music at that age that we still have into our 40s.”
Rudolph and Lieberum met in college while collaborating on another band, and soon discovered that they shared a similar sense of humor — and an obsession with the “Purple Rain” singer.
“While we were writing and performing music for our own band, we would also harmonize to Prince songs,” said Lieberum, and they would “listen to rare Prince demos and B-sides and quote lines from ‘Purple Rain’ to each other.”
Many years later, when Rudolph was preparing to depart “Saturday Night Live,” Lieberum suggested that they start a Prince cover band, with the two of them harmonizing on the vocals, just as they had for years. Rudolph’s response quoted “Purple Rain”: “Morris, you’re a genius!”
Princess has played plenty of big venues in the last few years, including Carnegie Hall and the show “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.” The pair later discovered that Prince himself was a fan, when they met him backstage at one of his shows.
“He told us that he had our Jimmy Fallon performance recorded on his DVR, which completely blew my mind!” said Lieberum.
Lieberum, whose solo project Sargent has just released a self-titled album, said that the Artist’s music has been a huge influence on her style.
“One thing I’ve learned from Prince is that putting yourself out there in a raw, emotional way is more powerful than vocal or lyrical perfection,” she said.
Prince’s death earlier this year has reinforced Lieberum and Rudolph’s determination to do justice to the singer’s music.
“I feel an even greater responsibility to do right by him,” said Lieberum. “We will continue to do what we always do, present this music in a joyful, fun way and make folks’ booties shake in the process.”
Princess at Brooklyn Bowl [61 Wythe Ave. between N. 11th and N. 12th streets in Williamsburg, (718) 963–3369, www.brook