Jelly Roll continues his dominance on the charts and in our hearts with a new single off the impressive Twisters movie soundtrack.
"Dead End Road," a song he live debuted Saturday night in Wisconsin comes from the thriller's collection of new tunes from country stars that includes Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, Shania Twain, and others.
Of the 29 songs on the soundtrack, is Jelly Roll's the best? How can one judge art? (Yes.)
How do you resist a track that starts off:
I’m just an underthinkin', overusin',
tall drinkin', short fusin'
Getting in my own way
I'm just a blood-stained, folded hands
Throwing back the milligrams
I can’t find the breaks
I'm hiding from the sun
Devil riding shotgun
God knows I'mma crash and burn
In a way this is a throwback to the times when soundtracks were a great way to either reintroduce music fans to old tunes (Dazed and Confused, Pulp Fiction) or provide a vehicle for new music to shine (Flashdance, Purple Rain, Heavy Metal).
At Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin, Jelly kicked off the show with the new banger, and plenty of fireballs to announce its debut.
Earlier this year Jelly Roll was nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist and took home a golden phonograph with Lainey for their duet "Save Me" for Best Country Duo or Group.
He might just be a long-haired son of a sinner. But he's our long-haired son of a sinner.
Is it a sin to record with Machine Gun Kelly? If it is, light a candle for the 39-year-old tattooed ex-con because on Friday he and MGK will release a collab called "Lonely Road."
For a guy who likes to do covers and medleys, perhaps we can see Jelly perform "Lonely Road" into "Old Town Road" into "Dead End Road"?
Jelly closed out the roller coaster set of sweet and sassy songs with the one two punch of the Skynyrd cover of "Simple Man" and then the aforementioned Grammy-winning "Save Me."
So why did Jelly kick off his set with the live debut? Some think its wise to nestle your new, unknown tunes in the middle of the rock sandwich, that way if people want to go get a fresh beer or powder their nose, they won't miss anything they're familiar with.
Others (like me) feel the top of the set is a great time to unleash the newness on the crowd because they're so excited to see the artist they're looking at things like the set and the costumes and the band more than listening, plus at the beginning you're bound to applaud at anything just to say hi.
It also clears the way for the more popular tunes.
But I think he did it for a few reasons. Firstly Twisters is a box office bonanza, reeling $80.5 million in the US, making it the biggest opening weekend ever for a disaster film and the second largest for a live-action film this year.
People swear going to the movies is a lost art, but who'd rather see a ruthless tornado at home when they can see it on the big screen with killer sound?
But also, look at that Rockfest lineup. Jelly is headlining a bill that includes actual rockers like Vince Neil, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Atreyu, and Killswitch Engage.
Midwesterners are nice and all, but they take their rock seriously and Jelly is a country rapper who rocks. Begin the gig with your biggest rock song to prove you didn't make a wrong turn outta Nashville.
Looking through social media a few days later, it looks like he melted the faces off the cheese heads. Bravo, Jelly.
The big softy has a few more gigs in the midwest, the Harley Davidson Homecoming in Milwaukee followed by Tailgate N' Tallboys in Michigan. Then he takes a load off because come next month it's going hard through the USA until Thanksgiving for The Beautifully Broken Tour.
Get your tickets on the Jelly Roll website.
