Jelly Roll is joined by Lainey Wilson for a version of his hit single, “Save Me,” combining two great talents, who also happen to be great friends. The Nashville native knew from the beginning that he wanted someone to join him on the track, with Wilson being an easy choice for him.

“The obvious is Lainey is one of my best friends in the music business,” Jelly Roll tells CMT. “Lainey, Ernest, everybody knows my little squad … These are the people I talked to pretty religiously. And, I think it was special that I was the guy that got to show the world that side of Lainey.”

Wilson of course has had her own hits, including duets with Cole Swindell and HARDY, plus songs like “Heart Like A Truck” and her current single, “Watermelon Moonshine.” But not until “Save Me” did she get to show her depth of emotional and vocal range, something Jelly Roll is proud to have been part of sharing with the rest of the world.

“I got to show y’all a trick y’all didn’t know she could do,” he boasts.

While Jelly Roll knew right away it was Wilson he wanted to join him on “Save Me,” it was his own stylist, Krista, who made him think about the collaboration in a new way, one he had never thought of before.

“She said, ‘I’ve loved “Save Me” from the first time I heard it, but I never felt it the way I felt it coming until I heard it coming from a woman’s perspective,'” Jelly Roll recalls. “I think that’s what made this such a beautiful marriage for me. She’s been through some sh– down there in Louisiana, too, you know?”

By his own admission, Jelly Roll can’t believe how much his life has changed, thanks to his warm welcome into country music.

“Everything’s changed,” Jelly Roll tells Audacy’s Katie & Company. “In every good way possible. A couple of bad ways possible, but that’s cool too. I expected that. You can’t expect God to give you this much of a blessing without a small burden. That’s kind of how that works. Even Paul complained about what he called the thorn in his side, whatever that affliction was that Paul had. But it’s been nothing short of incredible.”

Jelly Roll is currently on his Backroad Baptism Tour, which has already far surpassed any of the dreams he had for himself.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and get emotional on stage almost every night,” Jelly Roll says in a video shared on social media. “Looking out at [tens] of THOUSANDS of people singing along and living in the moment. I get off stage every night feeling hopeful like I just left a good Sunday service on a backroad in Tennessee. I hope y’all are feeling the same when you leave the show as well. Thank y’all for making this tour what it has been so far. I do not take this for granted for a single second.”

“Save Me” is on Jelly Roll’s Whitsitt Chapel album, out now. Find music and all of the dates on his Backroad Baptism Tour at JellyRoll615.com