# Music Saved Me | Jelly Roll on How Music Rescued Him from Prison and Addiction

An episode of [Music Saved Me Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1703080557), 20 Dec 2025, 13 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/ee29bc0a-f712-47d6-a49c-b25700f0582e/af3d7f0b-093c-45ee-a749-b3b9015ba06c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=dfceda02-3624-42c7-b522-b25700f0584c

In this powerful replay episode of Music Saved Me, host Lynn Hoffman sits down with multi-platinum artist Jelly Roll to explore his remarkable journey from incarceration to country music stardom and the healing power of music. Jelly Roll opens up about how music literally saved his life, transforming him from a troubled youth facing multiple prison sentences to one of the most authentic voices in modern country and hip-hop. He shares candid stories about battling addiction, finding redemption behind bars, and discovering his purpose through songwriting. From his early days in Nashville’s underground scene to breakthrough hits like “Save Me” and “Son of a Sinner,” Jelly Roll discusses the healing power of music and how vulnerability in his lyrics has connected with millions of fans facing similar struggles. He reflects on sobriety, second chances, and using his platform to advocate for criminal justice reform and addiction recovery. This episode captures the essence of Music Saved Me – honest conversations about how music transforms lives, offers hope in dark moments, and provides a path to redemption. Featured Topics: ∙ Overcoming addiction and incarceration through music ∙ The power of authentic storytelling in songwriting ∙ Finding purpose after prison ∙ Balancing country and hip-hop influences ∙ Using fame to advocate for criminal justice reform ∙ Sobriety and mental health in the music industry Listen to Jelly Roll’s inspiring story of how music saved his life and continues to save others. Support the show: https://musicsavedme.net/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://musicsavedme.net/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Music Saved Me.
[0:02] Speaker 2: I believe music's therapeutic. I've always said it, and what
[0:04] Speaker 2: I call what I do is therapeutic music. And I
[0:08] Speaker 2: think music is probably the closest thing to therapy. I
[0:11] Speaker 2: got until I was in my thirties. It was the
[0:13] Speaker 2: closest thing to a healing thing I could do, and
[0:16] Speaker 2: music I thought was meant to I always say it
[0:18] Speaker 2: this way.
[0:18] Speaker 3: Some music's meant to be heard and some music's meant
[0:21] Speaker 3: to be felt.
[0:21] Speaker 2: And when I was young, I got hyper focused on
[0:24] Speaker 2: the feeling of music and how music made people feel,
[0:28] Speaker 2: and how constant president always was in our lives.
[0:31] Speaker 4: This podcast is called Music Saved Me, and on each
[0:34] Speaker 4: episode we'll look at a musician, will delve into their
[0:38] Speaker 4: story their deep connection to music. We'll talk with their
[0:42] Speaker 4: fans everyday, people with their own story to tell about
[0:46] Speaker 4: how music has saved them in challenging times. I'm Lynn Hoffman,
[0:50] Speaker 4: your host for the Music Saved Me Podcast. Today, we
[0:54] Speaker 4: are so lucky to have one of music's fastest rising
[0:57] Speaker 4: stars on Music Saved Me. His music defies categorization, running
[1:02] Speaker 4: the gambit from rap to rock, but his big break
[1:05] Speaker 4: has come from the country music world. He was born
[1:08] Speaker 4: and bred in Nashville, and his name is jelly Roll.
[1:12] Speaker 4: Jelly Roll, welcome to the show. Tell everyone who you
[1:15] Speaker 4: are and how music has saved you.
[1:17] Speaker 2: Well, you know, my name is jelly Roll. I'm Jason
[1:20] Speaker 2: D FDA from Nashville, Tennessee. Music saved me two or
[1:25] Speaker 2: three times over. The first time I seen music have
[1:29] Speaker 2: a real impact at all was in my household. We
[1:33] Speaker 2: none of us played music, but everybody loved music, and
[1:36] Speaker 2: music was the language of the house. So every bedroom
[1:40] Speaker 2: would blare different music. And my mother, who struggled with
[1:44] Speaker 2: drugs and struggled with a lot of mental health stuff,
[1:47] Speaker 2: she didn't leave her room very much, but when she would,
[1:49] Speaker 2: she would come down to the kitchen and she would
[1:51] Speaker 2: play records, and the whole house would just flock to.
[1:54] Speaker 3: The kitchen, all six seven of us, you know.
[1:57] Speaker 2: And I just remember, that's the only time we've seen
[1:59] Speaker 2: her in a different light, you know, one of them,
[2:01] Speaker 2: I mean, kind of one of the few times we've
[2:03] Speaker 2: seen her at all.
[2:04] Speaker 3: But I just remember how impactful the.
[2:07] Speaker 2: Music was and how much it meant back then, you know,
[2:10] Speaker 2: And I think that was the beginning of music starting
[2:12] Speaker 2: to save my life.
[2:13] Speaker 4: Now, do you believe music has sort of supernatural healing powers,
[2:18] Speaker 4: you know, for mental, physical, or maybe even emotional problems.
[2:22] Speaker 2: I believe music is therapeutic. I've always said it, and
[2:25] Speaker 2: what I call what I do is therapeutic music. And
[2:29] Speaker 2: I think music is probably the closest thing to therapy
[2:34] Speaker 2: I got until I was in my thirties. It was
[2:36] Speaker 2: the closest thing to a healing thing I could do,
[2:39] Speaker 2: and music I thought was meant to I always say
[2:42] Speaker 2: it this way. Some music's meant to be heard and
[2:44] Speaker 2: some music's meant to be felt. And when I was young,
[2:48] Speaker 2: I got hyper focused on the feeling of music and
[2:50] Speaker 2: how music made people feel, and how constant and present
[2:54] Speaker 2: it always was in our lives.
[2:56] Speaker 4: Okay, describe to me how it feels when you know
[2:59] Speaker 4: that you're music is really impacting a fan.
[3:02] Speaker 3: I would think that I would hope.
[3:05] Speaker 2: My mission statement for my music is to hope that
[3:07] Speaker 2: it helps in some sort of way. That's how I
[3:09] Speaker 2: got into music, right. I wanted music to help people
[3:12] Speaker 2: the way it helped my mother. I wanted to be
[3:14] Speaker 2: a vessel of helping people, the way I watch music
[3:16] Speaker 2: help the people around me so much, you know, And
[3:20] Speaker 2: I just wanted to write songs for the people that
[3:21] Speaker 2: I feel like nobody writes songs for.
[3:24] Speaker 3: You know, and I lived in a certain culture. Drugs.
[3:28] Speaker 3: There were a lot of drugs.
[3:29] Speaker 2: There was a lot of a lot of addiction, a
[3:32] Speaker 2: lot of alcoholism, a lot of poverty, a lot of
[3:36] Speaker 2: real middle class just kind of checked to check stuff.
[3:39] Speaker 2: And I feel like nobody was really writing songs for
[3:42] Speaker 2: those people, my people, our people.
[3:45] Speaker 4: All Right, I'm going to quote you now you've said,
[3:47] Speaker 4: and I quote, I make music for people, not money.
[3:51] Speaker 4: Can you please elaborate on that?
[3:53] Speaker 3: Yeah?
[3:53] Speaker 2: Well, the first, the biggest joke I make is if
[3:56] Speaker 2: I was making music for money, I quit twenty years ago.
[3:58] Speaker 3: You know, I sure didn't get it until it's two
[4:00] Speaker 3: years ago, so I had an innimate time to quit.
[4:05] Speaker 2: To me, music was purpose, and as long as my
[4:08] Speaker 2: music's doing something for somebody, I'll always make it. And
[4:12] Speaker 2: even then I'll probably still make it because my music's
[4:15] Speaker 2: always done something for me. My intention from day one
[4:18] Speaker 2: was to try to help people the way that music
[4:20] Speaker 2: helped me.
[4:21] Speaker 4: That is such a beautiful sentiment. What is it about
[4:24] Speaker 4: music that gives people hope?
[4:26] Speaker 2: Do you think I think music vocalizes what we often
[4:30] Speaker 2: cannot and there's also a thing where music makes us.
[4:35] Speaker 2: It's a comforting thing. It's a it's a moment of
[4:38] Speaker 2: not feeling alone.
[4:40] Speaker 3: Right.
[4:40] Speaker 2: Yeah, when Adelle said, they said times supposed to heal you,
[4:45] Speaker 2: but I ain't done much healing in the song Hello,
[4:48] Speaker 2: I still get goosebumps on my legs just saying that lyric.
[4:53] Speaker 4: I have goosebumps hearing you say that lyric.
[4:56] Speaker 2: You know it's these moments of that you that music
[5:00] Speaker 2: just feels all over you.
[5:02] Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I literally got goose both.
[5:03] Speaker 2: Of my arm just thinking about lyrics.
[5:07] Speaker 4: It really is incredible. It's physical. The reaction. Now, this
[5:11] Speaker 4: is something really amazing. You've paid respects to families in
[5:14] Speaker 4: person who have family members who have passed away in
[5:17] Speaker 4: a tragic death. What is that experience like for you?
[5:22] Speaker 3: It's it's a it's a double edged sword. You know.
[5:26] Speaker 2: I'm very I'm an impath, so I feel I feel
[5:31] Speaker 2: the pain of people, and that weighs on me at times.
[5:34] Speaker 2: But it's also a blessing because God put me in
[5:37] Speaker 2: a situation to bring a little bit of light to
[5:40] Speaker 2: really dark situations, and I feel like that's a great
[5:44] Speaker 2: responsibility that God's given me and I take it real serious,
[5:47] Speaker 2: and I'll never complain. The joke I make about the
[5:50] Speaker 2: music business period is I'll never I got every problem
[5:54] Speaker 2: I ever prayed for, you know, and I love it.
[5:58] Speaker 4: So expand on this for me, How music fused with religion,
[6:03] Speaker 4: Why it's such a powerful combination.
[6:05] Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's hopeful, right, absolutely, so. I think
[6:10] Speaker 3: that one, I think music me personally.
[6:13] Speaker 2: Music allows me an opportunity to speak about my faith
[6:17] Speaker 2: in a way that's more open and honest than I
[6:20] Speaker 2: probably could in a building that was labeled some sort
[6:23] Speaker 2: of a denominational thing. So I think that music has
[6:29] Speaker 2: a healing power all by itself.
[6:30] Speaker 3: And when you let God in it, you know, it's
[6:33] Speaker 3: undeniabl right when anytime you let the spirit get into
[6:36] Speaker 3: the music.
[6:37] Speaker 2: And there are there's a lot of people who believe that,
[6:40] Speaker 2: even in the Christian faith, that the Holy Spirit was
[6:43] Speaker 2: music driven, which is why in the early days in
[6:46] Speaker 2: Southern Baptist churches, the Holy Spirit would come on when
[6:49] Speaker 2: the music in the hands started clapping, you know, that's
[6:51] Speaker 2: when people would receive the spirit.
[6:54] Speaker 4: What do you feel that people really need to understand,
[6:58] Speaker 4: you know, those of us who live in the real world,
[7:00] Speaker 4: about those who are serving time in prison.
[7:03] Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing they need to understand is
[7:05] Speaker 2: that those people need help. I think that we get
[7:09] Speaker 2: so caught up on discipline and the idea of discipline
[7:13] Speaker 2: that we have somewhere along the way forgot the idea
[7:16] Speaker 2: of rehabilitation, you know. And these people in jail, they
[7:21] Speaker 2: need voices, they need encouragement, you know. I think that's
[7:24] Speaker 2: a reason, ironically, to go back to the Bible. Jesus's
[7:29] Speaker 2: commands were so simple. Love your neighbor, Go visit people
[7:33] Speaker 2: in jail, feed the poor. Like even that far back
[7:38] Speaker 2: in time, there was an understanding of that people in
[7:42] Speaker 2: jail needed to be loved, you know what I mean. Yeah,
[7:47] Speaker 2: So I just try to carry that message to people today.
[7:50] Speaker 2: Is you know, go to places people aren't. You know,
[7:54] Speaker 2: it's really easy to go to a function and donate money,
[7:58] Speaker 2: and that helps a lot, you know, does. But I
[8:01] Speaker 2: would encourage people to go in there and talk to
[8:03] Speaker 2: some of these guys and make a presence.
[8:06] Speaker 4: We live today in such a divided world. How can
[8:09] Speaker 4: music minimize that dividedness? Is that even a world?
[8:15] Speaker 2: I tell you this man, Music brings everybody together. It
[8:19] Speaker 2: always has and it always will music is It's like dinner.
[8:23] Speaker 2: It's like a suffer table thing, right, It's what brings
[8:25] Speaker 2: everybody around.
[8:27] Speaker 3: I have seen.
[8:30] Speaker 2: Hardcore conservatives and hardcore democrats crying in each other's arms
[8:36] Speaker 2: at concerts. Wow, you know it just it's pains and
[8:41] Speaker 2: international language. And I think music speaks to pain more
[8:44] Speaker 2: than it does anything, at least my particular music. And
[8:49] Speaker 2: when you're going through something like that in life, you
[8:52] Speaker 2: start to realize how much that other shit don't matter,
[8:55] Speaker 2: you know, and it's just a real clear understanding. And
[8:58] Speaker 2: I think music brings that to a surface level with people,
[9:01] Speaker 2: and it goes back to the common bond theory, you
[9:03] Speaker 2: know what I mean. It's a My brother's a big
[9:06] Speaker 2: ut Valls fan, and if you're a ut Valls fan,
[9:08] Speaker 2: that's all he needs to know about.
[9:09] Speaker 3: You to at least initially like you. You know what
[9:11] Speaker 3: I'm saying.
[9:12] Speaker 2: You know what I mean, you got a foot in
[9:14] Speaker 2: the door just being a Falls fan alone saying. So,
[9:17] Speaker 2: it's like, I think it's cool when you see cultures
[9:21] Speaker 2: connect through music. Like whenever I see a guy that
[9:24] Speaker 2: I don't think would be a deadhead and he's a deadhead,
[9:26] Speaker 2: and it.
[9:27] Speaker 3: Just tickles me. Pink.
[9:28] Speaker 2: I love it, you know what I mean, because I'm
[9:30] Speaker 2: like really, and he's like, dude, I went to the
[9:32] Speaker 2: Chicago Dead Company show dinner last year, and you know,
[9:36] Speaker 2: it's like, it's awesome.
[9:37] Speaker 3: Man, music does say. I think how many.
[9:39] Speaker 2: Times we find those moments right where you're just like,
[9:42] Speaker 2: oh my god, I would have never guessed you were
[9:44] Speaker 2: a fish fan.
[9:44] Speaker 3: That's so cool, you know what I mean.
[9:46] Speaker 4: Never judge a book by its cover. What would you
[9:49] Speaker 4: say would be your proudest accomplishment in music or what
[9:55] Speaker 4: you're most proud of that your music has done.
[9:57] Speaker 2: I think the thing I'm the most proud of is
[9:59] Speaker 2: believe that my music is helping people. Believing that the
[10:04] Speaker 2: music helps and the music can always be there to help.
[10:10] Speaker 2: I think that's something else I'm proud of is that
[10:12] Speaker 2: I'm proud that I was lucky enough to come in
[10:14] Speaker 2: the streaming era where the music will live there for infinity,
[10:19] Speaker 2: you know what I mean, And that I love that
[10:21] Speaker 2: I'm alive during the streaming era and I don't have
[10:23] Speaker 2: to go rebuy the Bob Seeker and the Bullet Band
[10:27] Speaker 2: Silver Bullet Band album for the thirtieth time because I've
[10:29] Speaker 2: scratched the other twenty nine or lost them switching cars.
[10:33] Speaker 2: You know, I'm glad that I can just go listen
[10:36] Speaker 2: to Beautiful Loser whenever I want to.
[10:38] Speaker 3: You know that is so true.
[10:40] Speaker 4: You can take it with you everywhere. Now you don't
[10:42] Speaker 4: have to worry about anything. Let's hear from jelly Rolls
[10:45] Speaker 4: fans certainly has a lot of them.
[10:48] Speaker 1: Jelly roll seems to be able to hit a lot
[10:51] Speaker 1: of different emotional places, and I think that he speaks
[10:58] Speaker 1: to the common person. Thankfully, he's as an artist has
[11:02] Speaker 1: really come forward and gone upward. But I think people
[11:07] Speaker 1: recognize that he puts his heart into it and he
[11:10] Speaker 1: says what he needs to say, and he's real.
[11:15] Speaker 3: He's genuine.
[11:16] Speaker 5: For me personally, I think it's a great collaboration of
[11:20] Speaker 5: a couple of different kinds of music and it can
[11:23] Speaker 5: reach like it touches different kinds of music that I've
[11:27] Speaker 5: liked through the years. Everything that he's been through holds
[11:30] Speaker 5: so many stigmas in the public eye, and opening up
[11:34] Speaker 5: in music is a great way for so many different
[11:38] Speaker 5: audiences and people to connect together and understand what he's
[11:42] Speaker 5: going through.
[11:42] Speaker 4: Now, you've done a lot of different music in your time,
[11:46] Speaker 4: do you remember the first time you wrapped.
[11:49] Speaker 3: Oh absolutely.
[11:52] Speaker 2: My mother struggled with mental health and addiction stuff, right,
[11:55] Speaker 2: and she'd come to the kitchen and the whole house
[11:58] Speaker 2: would come. We'd listen to music. And now I realized
[12:00] Speaker 2: the music was affecting her addiction. I was like, oh,
[12:03] Speaker 2: this makes mom happy. I should go write music, right,
[12:07] Speaker 2: So I went upstairs and I wrote a rap because
[12:10] Speaker 2: hip hop was super influential in our culture, and I
[12:15] Speaker 2: was I went downstairs with my little sheet of paper
[12:17] Speaker 2: and she had all of her friends at the kitchen table.
[12:19] Speaker 2: I called them the golden girls, like six or seven mother,
[12:21] Speaker 2: and they'd all come to the kitchen table together. They
[12:23] Speaker 2: just changed smoked cigarettes. And I came down. She turned
[12:27] Speaker 2: the record off and said what you got. I said,
[12:30] Speaker 2: listen to this, and I held my little sheet of
[12:31] Speaker 2: paper up and I was shaking the whole time, and
[12:34] Speaker 2: I wrapped her a little rap. And I was probably
[12:35] Speaker 2: twelve years old. Eleven years old.
[12:38] Speaker 3: I don't like.
[12:39] Speaker 2: I just remember that feeling of everybody cheering me on
[12:42] Speaker 2: and telling me to go write another one, And in hindsight,
[12:44] Speaker 2: they were just trying to get rid of me.
[12:46] Speaker 3: That's how we do kids.
[12:47] Speaker 2: Yeah, Greg, go write another one of those.
[12:53] Speaker 4: That is so cool. Thank you so much. This has
[12:56] Speaker 4: been just an amazing few minutes to spend with an
[13:00] Speaker 4: amazing artist and person. We have just heard the authentic
[13:04] Speaker 4: story of an incredible storyteller and someone who truly honors
[13:09] Speaker 4: the impact of music in all of our lives. Jelly
[13:12] Speaker 4: Roll is on a mission to spread the good words
[13:14] Speaker 4: of his music and make a real difference in the world,
[13:17] Speaker 4: and I think he's doing just that. I'm Lyn Hoffman
[13:20] Speaker 4: and thank you so much for listening to this episode
[13:23] Speaker 4: of Music Saved Me.

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