Jelly Roll is already working on new music, one year after Whitsitt Chapel was released last June. The 39-year-old performed two new songs recently, including “Liar,” at the ACM Awards, and “I Am Not OK” on the American Idol finale. With his current single, “Halfway to Hell,” in the Top 5, Jelly Roll is ready to give his fans another record, one that he says is very, very diverse.
“I’m all over the place,” Jelly Roll tells Taste of Country, speaking of his next record. “I felt it was important to start the new era of music at the ACMs, because we had done ‘Save Me’ there. We launched me and Lainey [Wilson] there, and I think that right here, as we’re celebrating ‘Halfway to Hell’ coming No. 1, it’s kind of the end of the Whitsitt Chapel era. I don’t know if we’re gonna put ‘Liar’ out, for what it’s worth. I’m still on the fence about it. But it was important to be like, flag in the ground, it’s time for new music.”
Jelly Roll’s biggest problem right now is choosing which of the many, many songs he has written that he wants to include on the project.
“There’s a lot of storytelling on this album,” hints the singer. “I wrote probably a hundred-some songs last year, maybe 150-plus, trying to figure this album out. I’ve never been more inspired though. I was getting so many stories. People were pouring into it … I’m at gas stations and red carpets and I’m hearing life stories of people that are really inspired stories. I’ve never wrote more.”
The Nashville native has been vocal about his new music, and his eagerness to share it with his fans.
“It’s the longest chapter I’ve wrote ever, maybe in my career. I wrote a hundred and something songs last year,” Jelly Roll recently hinted on the Country Heat Weekly podcast (via American Songwriter).. “I don’t know how many of them I’m actually going to release this year. Last year, I did a really tight small package with Whitsitt Chapel. I told my wife I’m fighting the urge to start getting on TikTok like an artist that never made it and start dropping songs and see what goes. I have that many songs.”
Jelly Roll isn’t just working on new music. He is also working on his health, losing more than 70 pounds already, and vowing to be as healthy as he can be, after years of overeating and substance abuse.
“I’ve been really kicking a—,” Jelly Roll boasted to People. “I’m doing two to three miles a day, four to six days a week. I’m doing 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna, six minutes in a cold plunge every day. I’m eating healthy right now.”
Jelly Roll also has a song, “Leave the Light On” with Alexandra Kay, as part of the upcoming Twisters movie. Both the film and the soundtrack will be available on July 19. Jelly Roll will embark on his Beautifully Broken Tour on August 27, with both Kay and Warren Zeiders serving as his opening acts.
Find all of Jelly Roll’s music and tour dates at JellyRoll615.com.
