Speaker 1: Music Saved Me. Musicians on Call is a charity that
Speaker 1: is perfectly aligned with the mission of this podcast, delivering
Speaker 1: the healing power of music since nineteen ninety nine. Why
Speaker 1: not become a volunteer or a supporter by going to
Speaker 1: Musicians on Call dot ors.
Speaker 2: I believe music's therapeutic.
Speaker 3: I've always said it, and what I call what I
Speaker 3: do is therapeutic music. And I think music is probably
Speaker 3: the closest thing to therapy I got until I was
Speaker 3: in my thirties. It was the closest thing to a
Speaker 3: healing thing I could do in music I thought was
Speaker 3: meant to I always say it this way.
Speaker 2: Some music's meant to be heard and some music's meant
Speaker 2: to be felt.
Speaker 3: And when I was young, I got hyper focused on
Speaker 3: the feeling of music and how music made people feel,
Speaker 3: how constant president always was in our lives.
Speaker 1: This podcast is called Music Saved Me, and on each episode,
Speaker 1: we'll look at a musician, will delve into their story
Speaker 1: their deep connection to music. We'll talk with their fans. Everyday,
Speaker 1: people with their own story to tell about how music
Speaker 1: has saved them in challenging times. I'm Lynn Hoffman, your
Speaker 1: host for the Music Saved Me podcast. Hey, we are
Speaker 1: so lucky to have one of music's fastest rising stars
Speaker 1: on Music Saved Me. His music defies categorization, running the
Speaker 1: gambit from rap to rock, but his big break has
Speaker 1: come from the country music world. He was born and
Speaker 1: bred in Nashville, and his name is jelly Roll. Jelly Roll,
Speaker 1: welcome to the show. Tell everyone who you are and
Speaker 1: how music has saved you.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, my name is Jelly Roll. I'm Jason
Speaker 3: d FDA from Nashville, Tennessee. Music saved me two or
Speaker 3: three times over. The first time I seen music have
Speaker 3: a real impact at all was in my household. We
Speaker 3: none of us played music, but everybody loved music, and
Speaker 3: music was the language of the house. So every bedroom
Speaker 3: would blare different music. And my mother, who struggled with
Speaker 3: drugs and struggled with a lot of mental health stuff,
Speaker 3: she didn't leave her room very much, but when she would,
Speaker 3: she would come down to the kitchen and she would
Speaker 3: play records, and the whole house would just flock to
Speaker 3: the kitchen, all six seven of us, you know, And
Speaker 3: I just remember, that's the only time we've seen her
Speaker 3: in a different light, you know, one of them, I
Speaker 3: mean kind of one of the few times we've seen
Speaker 3: her at all.
Speaker 2: But I just remember how impactful the music.
Speaker 3: Was and how much it meant back then, you know,
Speaker 3: And I think that was the beginning of music starting
Speaker 3: to save my life.
Speaker 1: Now, do you believe music has sort of supernatural healing powers,
Speaker 1: you know, for mental, physical, or maybe even emotional problems.
Speaker 3: I believe music is therapeutic. I've always said it, and
Speaker 3: what I call what I do is therapeutic music. And
Speaker 3: I think music is probably the closest thing to therapy
Speaker 3: I got until I was in my thirties. It was
Speaker 3: the closest thing to a healing thing I could do,
Speaker 3: and music I thought was meant to I always say
Speaker 3: it this way. Some music's meant to be heard and
Speaker 3: some music's meant to be help. And when I was young,
Speaker 3: I got hyper focused on the feeling of music and
Speaker 3: how music made people feel, and how constant and president
Speaker 3: it always was in our lives.
Speaker 1: Okay, describe to me how it feels when you know
Speaker 1: that your music is really impacting a fan.
Speaker 3: I would think that I would hope. My mission statement
Speaker 3: for my music is to hope that it helps in
Speaker 3: some sort of way. That's how I got into music, right.
Speaker 3: I wanted music to help people, the way it helped
Speaker 3: my mother. I wanted to be a vessel of helping people,
Speaker 3: the way I watch music help the people around me
Speaker 3: so much, you know. And I just wanted to write
Speaker 3: songs for the people that I feel like nobody write
Speaker 3: songs for, you know. And I lived in a certain
Speaker 3: culture drugs. There were a lot of drugs. There was
Speaker 3: a lot of a lot of addiction, a lot of alcoholism,
Speaker 3: a lot of poverty, a lot of real middle class
Speaker 3: just kind of checked to check stuff. And I feel
Speaker 3: like nobody was really writing songs for those people, My people,
Speaker 3: our people.
Speaker 1: Right, I'm going to quote you now you've said, and
Speaker 1: I quote, I make music for people, not money. Can
Speaker 1: you please elaborate on that?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Well, the first, the biggest joke I make is if
Speaker 3: I was making music for money.
Speaker 2: I quit twenty years ago. You know.
Speaker 3: Sure it didn't get any until it's two years ago,
Speaker 3: so I had an innimate time to quit. To me,
Speaker 3: music was purpose, And as long as my music's doing
Speaker 3: something for somebody, I'll always make it. And even then
Speaker 3: I'll probably still make it because my music's always done
Speaker 3: something for me. My intention from day one was to
Speaker 3: try to help people the way that music helped me.
Speaker 1: That is such a beautiful sentiment. What is it about
Speaker 1: music that gives people hope? Do you think?
Speaker 3: I think music vocalizes what we often cannot and there's
Speaker 3: also a thing where music makes us.
Speaker 2: It's a comforting thing. It's a it's a moment of
Speaker 2: not feeling alone. Right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when Adelle said, they said time supposed to hear you,
Speaker 3: but I ain't done much healing in the song Hello,
Speaker 3: I still get goosebumps on my legs just saying that lyric.
Speaker 1: I have goosebumps hearing you say that lyric.
Speaker 3: You know, it's these moments of that you that music
Speaker 3: just feels all over you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I literally got goosebumps on.
Speaker 3: My arm just thinking about lyrics.
Speaker 1: It really is incredible. It's physical. The reaction. Now, this
Speaker 1: is something really amazing. You've paid respects to families in
Speaker 1: person who have family members who have passed away in
Speaker 1: a tragic death. What is that experience like for you?
Speaker 2: It's it's a it's a double edged sword. You know.
Speaker 3: I'm very I'm an impath, so I feel I feel
Speaker 3: the pain of people and that weighs on me at times,
Speaker 3: but it's also a blessing because God put me in
Speaker 3: a situation to bring a little bit of light to
Speaker 3: really dark situations. And I feel like that's a great
Speaker 3: responsibility to God giving me and I take it real
Speaker 3: serious and I'll never complain. The joke I make about
Speaker 3: the music business period is I'll never I got every
Speaker 3: problem I ever prayed for, you know, And I love it.
Speaker 1: So expand on this for me, How music fused with religion,
Speaker 1: Why it's such a powerful combination.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's hopeful, right, absolutely, So I think
Speaker 2: that one I think music me personally.
Speaker 3: Music allows me an opportunity to speak about my faith
Speaker 3: in a way that's more open and honest than I
Speaker 3: probably could in a building that was labeled some sort
Speaker 3: of a denominational thing. So I think that music has
Speaker 3: a healing power all by itself.
Speaker 2: And when you let God in it, you know, it's undeniable.
Speaker 3: Right when anytime you let the spirit get into the music,
Speaker 3: and there's all there's There's a lot of people who
Speaker 3: believe that, even in the Christian faith, that the Holy
Speaker 3: Spirit was music driven, which is why in the early
Speaker 3: days in Southern Baptist churches, the Holy Spirit would come
Speaker 3: on when the music and the hands started clapping, you know,
Speaker 3: that's when people would receive the spirit.
Speaker 1: What do you feel that people really need to understand,
Speaker 1: you know, those of us who live in the real world,
Speaker 1: about those who are serving time in prison.
Speaker 3: I think the biggest thing they need to understand is
Speaker 3: that those people need help. I think that we get
Speaker 3: so caught up on discipline and the idea of discipline
Speaker 3: that we have somewhere along the way forgot the idea
Speaker 3: of rehabilitation, you know, and these people in jail, they
Speaker 3: need voices, they need encouragement, you know. I think that's
Speaker 3: a reason, ironically, to go back to the Bible. Jesus's
Speaker 3: commands were so simple. Love your neighbor, go visit people
Speaker 3: in jail, feed the poor. Like even that far back
Speaker 3: in time, there was an understanding of that people in
Speaker 3: jail needed to be loved, you know what I mean. Yeah,
Speaker 3: So I just try to carry that message to people
Speaker 3: today is you know, go to the places people aren't.
Speaker 3: You know, it's really easy to go to a function
Speaker 3: and donate money, and that helps a lot, you know,
Speaker 3: it does. But I would encourage people to go in
Speaker 3: there and talk to some of these guys and make
Speaker 3: a presence.
Speaker 1: We live today in such a divided world. How can
Speaker 1: music minimize that dividedness? Is that even a world?
Speaker 3: I tell you this, man. Music brings everybody together. It
Speaker 3: always has and it always will. Music is it's like dinner.
Speaker 3: It's like a suffer table thing, right, It's what brings
Speaker 3: everybody around.
Speaker 2: I have seen.
Speaker 3: Hardcore conservatives and hardcore Democrats crying in each other's arms
Speaker 3: at concerts. Wow, you know, it just just it's pains
Speaker 3: and international language. And I think music speaks to pain
Speaker 3: more than it does anything, at least my particular music.
Speaker 3: And when you're going through something like that in life,
Speaker 3: you start to realize how much that other shit don't matter,
Speaker 3: you know, And it's just a real clear understanding. And
Speaker 3: I think music brings that to a surface level with people,
Speaker 3: and it goes back to the.
Speaker 2: Common bond theory, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: It's a My brother's a big ut Valls fan, and
Speaker 3: if you're a ut Valls fan, that's all he needs
Speaker 3: to know about you to at least initially like you.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. You know what I mean?
Speaker 3: You got a foot in the door just being a
Speaker 3: Falls fan alone.
Speaker 2: So it's like, I.
Speaker 3: Think it's cool when you see cultures connect through music.
Speaker 3: Like whenever I see a guy that I don't think
Speaker 3: would be a dead head and he's a deadhead and it.
Speaker 2: Just tickles me, pink, I love it, you know what.
Speaker 3: I mean, Because I'm like really, and he's like, dude,
Speaker 3: I went to the Chicago Dead Company show Da Da
Speaker 3: Da last year, and you know, it's like.
Speaker 2: It's awesome, man, music does it.
Speaker 3: I think how many times we find those moments right
Speaker 3: where you're just like, oh my god, I would have
Speaker 3: never guessed you were a Fish fan.
Speaker 2: That's so cool.
Speaker 1: Oh you know what I mean, never judge a book
Speaker 1: by its cover. What would you say would be your
Speaker 1: proudest accomplishment in music or what you're most proud of
Speaker 1: that your music has done.
Speaker 3: I think the thing I'm the most proud of is
Speaker 3: believing that my music is helping people. Believing that the
Speaker 3: music helps and the music can always be there to help.
Speaker 3: I think that's something else I'm proud of is that
Speaker 3: I'm proud that I was lucky enough to come in
Speaker 3: the streaming era where the music will live there for infinity.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean, and that I love that
Speaker 3: I'm alive during the streaming era and I don't have
Speaker 3: to go rebuy the Bob Seger and the Bullet Band
Speaker 3: Silver Bullet Band album for the thirtieth time because I've
Speaker 3: scratched the other twenty nine or lost them switching cars.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm glad that I can just go listen
Speaker 3: to Beautiful Loser whenever I want to.
Speaker 2: You know that is so true.
Speaker 1: You can take it with you everywhere. Now, you don't
Speaker 1: have to worry about anything. Let's hear from Jelly roles.
Speaker 1: Fans certainly has a lot of them.
Speaker 4: Jelly Rowl seems to be able to hit a lot
Speaker 4: of different emotional places, and I think that he speaks
Speaker 4: to the common person. Thankfully, he's as an artist has
Speaker 4: really come forward and gone upward. But I think people
Speaker 4: recognize that he puts his heart into it and he
Speaker 4: says what he needs to say, and he's real.
Speaker 2: He's genuine.
Speaker 5: For me personally, I think it's a great collaboration of
Speaker 5: a couple of different kinds of music and it can
Speaker 5: reach like it touches different kinds of music that I've
Speaker 5: liked through the years. Everything that he's been through holds
Speaker 5: so many stigmas in the public eye, and opening up
Speaker 5: in music is a great way for so many different
Speaker 5: audiences and people to connect together and understand what he's
Speaker 5: going through.
Speaker 1: Now, you've got a lot of different music in your time.
Speaker 1: Do you remember the first time you rapped?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: My mother struggled with like mental health and addiction stuff, right,
Speaker 3: and she'd come to the kitchen and the whole house
Speaker 3: would come and we'd listen to music. And when I
Speaker 3: realized that music was affecting her addiction, I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: this makes mom happy.
Speaker 2: I should go write music, right, So.
Speaker 3: I went upstairs and I and I wrote a rap
Speaker 3: because hip hop.
Speaker 2: Was super influential in our culture, and.
Speaker 3: I was I went downstairs with my little sheet of paper,
Speaker 3: and she had all of her friends at the kitchen table.
Speaker 3: I called them the Golden girls, like six or seven, mother,
Speaker 3: and they'd all come to the kitchen table together. They
Speaker 3: just changed smoked cigarettes. And I came down. She turned
Speaker 3: the record off and said what you got. I said,
Speaker 3: listen to this, and I held my little sheet of
Speaker 3: paper up and I was shaking the whole time, and
Speaker 3: I rapped her a little rap and I was probably
Speaker 3: twelve years old. Eleven years old, I don't like I
Speaker 3: just remember that feeling of everybody cheering me on and
Speaker 3: telling me to go write another one, and hindsight, they
Speaker 3: were just trying to rid of me.
Speaker 2: That's how we do kids.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Greg, you're riding another one of those.
Speaker 1: That is so cool. Thank you so much. This has
Speaker 1: been just an amazing few minutes to spend with an
Speaker 1: amazing artist and person. We have just heard the authentic
Speaker 1: story of an incredible storyteller and someone who truly honors
Speaker 1: the impact of music in all of our lives. Jelly
Speaker 1: Roll is on a mission to spread the good words
Speaker 1: of his music and make a real difference in the world,
Speaker 1: and I think he's doing just that. I'm Lynn Hoffman
Speaker 1: and thank you so much for listening to this episode
Speaker 1: of Music Saved Me.