Caught in Between
The Tennessee singer lit up the late-night stage with a performance of his Whitsitt Chapel track
Jelly Roll delivered his latest confessional to the late-night stage on Tuesday with “Halfway to Hell,” the first track from his new record Whitsitt Chapel.
Backed by his band, the Tennessee singer performed the rocker about being caught between “a county jail revival” and “a bottle and a Bible,” as he asks himself (a familiar theme throughout his work) if he’s “worth savin’ if I’m always fadin’?”
“This little light of mine damn near burned me alive/Lord knows that Mama tried,” sings Jelly Roll, before admitting he’s still at a crossroads. “And I don’t know if I’m halfway to heaven or halfway to hell/My angels and demons at war with myself/One foot in the fire and I still can’t tell.”
In June, Jelly Roll, born Jason DeFord, released Whitsitt Chapel, and last year, he swopped his first Number One country song with “Son of a Sinner.”
His latest record features lead single “Need a Favor” and “Save Me,” which was remixed from his 2020 studio album Self Medicated and featured BBR Music Group label-mate, Lainey Wilson. In April, he debuted “Need a Favor” with a gospel-choir performance at the CMT Music Awards.
Jelly Roll and Wilson’s collab was nominated for Musical Event of the Year for the 2023 CMA Awards. Both artists are the top nominees: Wilson, with nine, and Jelly Roll, with five. Along with Musical Event, Music Video, and Single of the Year, for “Need a Favor,” Jelly Roll is up for Male Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year.
Last month, Jelly Roll featured on Dustin Lynch‘s “Chevrolet,” a rewrite of the lyrics to Dobie Gray’s 1973 hit, “Drift Away.”