SmartLess - "Jelly Roll"

Episode Date: March 3, 2025

Mama didn’t raise no fool this week, folks; it’s Jelly Roll. Incarceration, the need to write music, and the Nobody Cries Alone Policy. Put on your shower-shoes and go for the heat package… it��s an all-new SmartLess. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

Hey guys, do you mind if I count down my cold open to you? Ready? Three, two, one. Let's have the one be silent so that we don't hear it on the board. Yeah, yeah. So hang on, hang on, hang on. Wait, wait, let's be, let's be, so you're just going to go three, two, one, welcome to Smartlist or whatever, but you're going to say the one or the one's silent? No, I'm going to say the one's going to be silent. Can you start at five? Just to give me ready Yeah, right news partless episode in five four three two Hey guys, what's going on no welcome to smart list J, why the layers?

It's just freezing. Yeah. Is it? Here, yes. It is really cold, but don't you have heat? You can put the heat on a little bit? Yeah. Did you end up going for the heat package at your house? I live with someone who doesn't enjoy the heat package.

So, um, How is it nice and warm over there at your place, Shaunie? Yeah, we put the heat on in the morning. You don't sleep with it on. God, no, couldn't sleep with it on. You gotta put the fan on. I sleep with a fan. You just pick a different fan every night? You just go find somebody looking for a big fan to sleep. And, Will, it's pretty cold in New York, is it not?

It's been real chilly, but I love it. You're in a t-shirt, though, so you're using the heat over there as well. Well, yeah, the heat's on. It. Well, yeah the heat's on it's it's quite Yeah, it's quite hot but But I also don't you know, I just came from The gym so I'm running a little hot right now. Oh sure sure sure sure sure so you're still in your juices right now Well, I mean I showered and stuff, but you know, you've got that you did your your core. Yeah

Yeah, your pat well you get the, you ever get the shower sweats? Where you take a shower and then you're hotter after you get out of the shower. But I do, I've been doing ice cold showers for a couple minutes after. I can't do it, can't do it, it's not fun. So wait, wait, wait, so you walk into a really cold shower? Yeah.

Or do you get it cold while you're in it? I mix it up. I do both. Today I did just cold. And so I worked out and I did cold. And then I walked home and it's nice when you come out of the gym and you've been cold and it's cold outside. Hold it.

You showered at the gym? I did, yeah. Did you wear shower shoes? You know, I was thinking about this today. Shower shoes? I'm gonna answer your question, but I've been thinking about it a little bit because I brought this up earlier, like when we were on vacation over New Year's,

and you washed your hands and I was like, did everybody, remember I said, did everybody else die? Did everybody else get a really deep sickness? No. No. And then I thought about your obsession the other day, you were talking about your colon and stuff. And you're- Well and slippers in hotel rooms.

Listen to him, he goes, he's going, yeah. Yeah, yeah, my bamboo shoot clean colon. Yeah, and you know, it occurs to me that everything you're doing is kind of in vain. It doesn't matter, there's no difference, your experience is not different. Completely agree. It's total crazy town.

Yeah, it's crazy town. So, and your obsession with people walking in showers, hotel rooms with no shoes on, all that kind of stuff. I mean, the truth. It's completely unnecessary, but all I know is that I am that percentage more clean But all I know is that I am that percentage more clean than the dirty girdies that are walking around and grabbing a bunch of.

But I guess what I'm saying is what is it getting you? It's just, no, it's just a, it's sort of a psychosomatic thing. It's just like, I feel like I enjoy eating the bread out of the bread basket, knowing that my utensil, which is my fingers, right? Here's the equivalent. The equivalent is if you had a fork

that you were about to eat your yummy little fucking carbo with cheese and sauce and shit all over it, pasta dish, if you dropped that fork on the restaurant floor, rubbed it around on the floor, then picked it up, then scooped your pasta, you'd be like, oh, this feels a little gross going into my mouth. So that's all it is. I get it, I get it.

You know what, and it's rubbed off on me because I was just in Chicago this last weekend. And I went, and in the hotel I stayed at, Flex Munch? Chicago. And I brought, Stop screaming. Oh Jesus, we get it, you're from Glen Ellyn, Illinois. And I brought, I brought slippers, Jason,

because, and I used them in the hotel room, because I did, I took my shoes off and I was like, I'm walking in other people's feet stuff. And then when you climbed into that clean bed and you pushed your feet to the bottom of that tight little cloth envelope at the bottom, you don't have a bunch of dust and grit and grime falling off. Cloth envelope, you have the grossest terminologies. How's your cloth envelope at the bottom, you don't have a bunch of dust and grit and grime falling off.

Cloth envelope, you have the grossest terminologies. How's your cloth envelope? When you, here's what I suspect. Here's what I suspect. Tuck your nards into the cloth envelope. Jesus. Your nards. Here's what I suspect.

When it's all said and done, when you are on your deathbed and somebody's- In my clean coffin, unused. With slippers on your feet. You bet. The amount of time and energy you've spent thinking and acting on this is valuable time on earth that you've wasted.

Let me tell you something, in my open casket, if you put your dirty fucking hands on my face, when you cry and say goodbye to me for one last time, if those hands aren't clean. Oh, I'm gonna go and walk in a hotel room with bare feet and then I'm gonna get in your coffin with you. Put your clammy foot on my cheek? On my cold dead cheek?

My hotel feet. And make your kids watch me do it. Here's the other thing. I fucking, Sean, Sean, years ago we were doing a rest. My hotel feet. Years ago we were doing a rest in development and I had to do this whole thing where, maybe I mentioned it before,

I had to put a pill in Jason's mouth and he was so all over me about cleaning my hands before he touched his face. Before I touched it. I think I had a bottle of spray sanitizer in my pocket. I hate you before I touched it. And then they'd be rolling and I'm like, I need to wash my hands.

And then we start and he's like fucking freaking out. Fortunately my character had to be not into it too. So I just used it. I kind of get it though. I kind of get it. Yeah. I know. Talk to the audience a little bit about what's going on, Sean.

I just blew my nose all this talk made my nose run. It's another thing, you drink milk and you blow your nose. I don't think I've blowed my nose since I was 12. Well what do you do? Wait a second, wait a second. Wait a second, what do you mean? That's such a bonkers statement. Just nork it in the shower and get on with it.

Ew, all day, what if you have to blow your nose in the middle of the day? Nork it! Who's got a runny nose all day, granddad? Wait a second. Wait a second. You have a cloth cleanex in your jacket. I'm going to save all of these and put them in your coffin.

Can I just say, and I just want to say this, and I'm going to put it in terms that Sean can understand, hashtag relatable, Jason. You fucking, so you don't blow your nose, you don't walk with your feet. Do you understand how much? And I'm wearing a cashmere robe right now. And you're wearing cashmere robe? Nobody can relate to you.

And my nards are in a hot cloth pocket. Nobody can relate to you at all. Jason, what's your monthly cable bill? Ooh, 250 probably. Probably, you don't know. It kills me, it kills me every time. You don't know. I want to know, Bill. Oh, 250 probably? Probably, you don't know. It kills me, it kills me every time. You don't know. I want to cut the cord.

I hope we have a guest that can talk me through cutting the cord. No, I tell you what we do. We have a tech specialist. We don't have a tech specialist. Although I don't know if, that I don't know. No, we're gonna find out. I know some stuff about him,

and I know some stuff about him that a lot of other people know about him, because people know this guy, because he is a multi-multi Grammy nominated singer. Open your eyes, God damn it. Don't close your eyes when you say that. Multi, I have to, because I'm leaning into it. This guy has been at the top, he's been at number one

on virtually every Billboard chart, whether it's the all-genre chart, breakout, you know. Jason Momolo. Best country song, no. Best country song performance. He has addressed issues like mental health issues through his music. He's also testified before Congress

to advocate for stricter rules on fentanyl and drugs. He's been such an unbelievable voice of reason in crazy times. Elton John. just an unbelievable talent. And we met him because we introduced him at a concert out on Long Island in our show. You guys, it's nobody other than Jelly Roll. Jelly Roll! Yay!

I tell you what, I realize where I fall in the hierarchy of country music with Jay against everybody but me. Kenny Chesney! I'm a dumb dumb. I fall in the hierarchy of country music with Jay against everybody but me Just saw an article Kenny Chessie doing something at the sphere or something like that that just saw that article I don't want to jump back on a train y'all already got off of but I would like to share an experience with shower shoes for a Second. Oh, yeah Didn't even know that it's a great time to it. Yeah. Well, the fun part is, I'm gonna tell you where they exist for a different role. When you are incarcerated. Yep, okay. Which I've had the unfortunate experience of.

Well, you're gonna get into that. Yeah, you have to wear shoes in the shower in case somebody tries to do something to you while you're in the shower. Wait, so you can run? No, hang on, hang on. No, no, so you could fight, so you don't slip. You don't wanna slip barefooted, so you wanna put your shoes with a rubber band. So you wanna supply? No, hang on. No, no, so you could fight, so you don't slip. You don't wanna slip barefooted,

so you wanna put your shoes with the rubber bands. So you wanna supply a nice firm base to whatever's going on in the shower. Absolutely, like you don't leave your cell if you're incarcerated in a real violent facility unless you have shoes on. They give you flip-flops, but you walk to the shower in your shoes, and then you normally have a friend

stand outside of the shower to make sure you're double safe But really the only thing Jason's fighting this shower is the urge to put a finger in himself 30 times later and not yeah for the rest of the day by the way you just described the reason why I don't wear shower shoes All right jelly Jelly Roll, welcome to Smartless. It started the way I hoped it would. Now, are you currently in a hotel room? I am. Do you have slippers on?

No, I just, I'm barefoot in here right now. Goodbye, Jelly Roll. No, I'm sorry. It never happens, but I didn't have, it's a long story. I left my slads on the set. Jelly Roll, before we get, now you've just established you're in LA and you're barefoot in the hotel room,

and then you alluded to before, we wanna get into about being incarcerated, and just a rough estimate, because obviously you can't know, how long do you think Bateman would last in prison? And minutes is fine, if you just wanna keep it to minutes. So how long? This is where we gotta be honest, right?

I'm an honest guy. Of course, this is gonna hurt. The Jason Bateman that we know right now would survive because he would be extorted. So he would pay for protection, he would be totally fine. Now had pre Jason Bateman be a Jason Bateman, maybe a day or two.

Maybe a day or two. Now, do you find that weak, soft folks like me go in and immediately strike a bargain to be a friend with air quotes to somebody real tough, and so then you're protected? That is traditionally how that works out. Yes, sir. I'm willing to trade my virginity for,

so that I don't get my, you know, my head kicked in. They prefer money. They'd rather have money. Everybody's trying to appeal a case. But you're not walking in there with money, so how do you, how can you pay for security in a prison if you're not walking in there with a wallet? Yeah, it's crazy.

Well, back in the days when cash was a real thing, you'd just smuggle in cash like they did drugs. But now, as you could imagine, it's like everybody Well, back in the days when cash was a real thing, you just smuggled in cash like they did drugs. But now, as you could imagine, it's like everybody's got cell phones in there, so they're like, Hey, call your people and tell them cash at my people. Hang on, you can have a cell phone in prison? Cell phone in jail? You can't have one. But they do, huh?

That's the catch. Now, they do have tablets. I haven't been locked up in a long time, so I've missed some of this. But they have tablets now from when I go visit jails, they always show me their tablets so they can email and correspond that way. No kidding. But when I was in there, we were smuggling them in. Yeah, but I've always wondered that same thing. Like you hear about like in jail situations where the inmates can have like, you just have like cell phones or they'll smuggle in drugs

or certain foods. It's like, well, isn't anybody watching and like the guards and stuff? Yeah, it's just. The guards are probably part of the process, right? Yeah, that's the big thing right there. Here's the thing that, and I'm just going off this list that I just got,

it just came in the list of stuff that JB would smuggle. Okay. Okay. A cashmere robe, slippers, preferably Uggs, but just lined is fine. Also, almonds, am I saying that right? Can I also have a pair of socks so that the feet don't get too sweaty in the Ugg slippers?

Socks or feet, berries, crackers, not too many please, because man, they're addictive. The blue ones, the blue ones. And no shiv, no shiv. No shiv. Wait, I do want to, my last question on this is, and J.B., you touched on it, how does that happen? Like you kind of joked, you go in day one,

you strike a bargain. I mean, I walk in there, I'm me, I'm a total pussy, I walk in and they're like, all right, you've got money, so do they reach out to me? How do I know who's the right guy to side with? You know what I mean? First of all, it's a lot of discernment. A lot of the wrong guys are gonna come first.

I've seen a lot of guys pay the wrong guy for protection. Right, how does that happen? They don't knock on the cell door. They wait until everyone's out for recess? Yeah, or they'll come in your cell when the cell doors pop. Right. But it's also not as extortionary as we all make it sound. It's like, it truly depends on what your crime was,

where you were. There's a lot of mitigating, outside of the jokes at jail, there's a lot of politics of what actually, why you're there. Right. Traditionally, if you keep your mouth shut, you're okay in there. Really? Do you mind if I ask, and we can cut it if you don't want to talk about it, but why you're there. Traditionally, if you keep your mouth shut, you're okay in there.

Do you mind if I ask, and we can cut it if you don't wanna talk about it, but why you were in there? No, no, I appreciate you asking, Sean. I wanna talk about it because I think it's a really important part of my redemption is that whenever I was a younger man, I had committed a series of crimes,

one of which being an armed robbery case, which is the one that ended up really sending me to prison but sadly it's been everything from armed robbery to possession with intent to distribute I've just I was a lot I was a 10 year 12 years in and out of the system kind of kid Caught my first case when I was like 14 years old from 14 to 25 I probably did almost that about almost that most of that decade incarcerated.

I call it the revolving doors that once you get in, but I think it's important that I talk about it because it's a big thing. I want to give people hope and second chances and also I never want to act like I'm running from what I did or my victim deserves better than for me to act like it didn't happen. You know what I mean? My victim, did, or my victim deserves better than for me to act like it didn't happen.

You know what I mean? My victim, nobody else, my victim deserves better. Yeah, and you know, it's funny you talk about Second Chance. I love your story. You're such a good guy, and truly, and I think that, you know, redemption, not enough of a premium is put on it in today's culture. Certainly, we hold people to a crazy standard

of one strike and you're out now for a lot less egregious crimes than armed robbery. Somebody might miss, I'm not talking about people who really are saying things to injure people or carrying on in a way that's not, but certainly there are people who fuck up. You're in the public eye, there are people who fuck, who weren't in the public eye, but it becomes public

because they did something at work or whatever. Again, I'm not referring to serious crimes. I'm talking about people who made a mistake that are kind of looked at by society as like, it just doesn't, they don't like it. They disagree with it. And so they say, this person is out. And I think that it's a really dangerous idea because you, somebody like you,

you're living proof of what can be done when somebody's given a second chance and can bring a lot of good to the world. Do you agree with that? Oh, dude, one, thank you, yeah. I mean, that's what I hope to represent more than anything, right, is that, because I don't think I just stand for criminal second chances.

I think I became a voice for all second chances. I'm a guy that proves that it's never too late to change. When I was nominated for the best new artist at the Grammys last year, I was the second oldest artist ever nominated for best new artist in the history of the Grammys. Incredible. So it's not only did I turn my life around,

I did it at an age where in our business, in the music business, people would tell me I was crazy for startin'. You know what I mean? If you ain't caught your teeth by it, sometimes in the acting world I've noticed that you have guys who will arc later in their career. But like in the music business,

they say that our best work's done between 22 and 27. Right, right. I didn't even start getting invited to a work show until I was 37, you know what I'm saying? I was 10 years past the music prime. Yeah, it's amazing. You know what I mean? But what was the, because when we all first met you,

what I'll call the Jelly Roll Howard Stern event, is when I first met you, and this might sound really corny, but I, you know, you see light in people, you see goodness, you see truth, you see all of those good things that make good people who they are. And the second I met you, you were so kind and outgoing and effusive.

And it's genuine. It's not learned. Yes, totally genuine and I felt it. And first of all, thank you for that because being a gay person in the place that we all met, I was like, I turned to Will and Jason like, these are the places that I would get the shit beat out of me you know, 30 years ago.

But so. Where, East Hampton? Yeah, no that kind of bar. No, that kind of bar. Yeah. No, that kind of bar, you know, like the crunchy bar. Yeah. You know, but so I met you, you were so kind and so genuine, and so what was the thing

that was your turning point? What was the thing that made you go, you know what, I can't do that stuff anymore, I have to open myself up, I have to be. Be the warm guy I am. Yeah. Well first of all, to testament to what you just said, is that just for the record,

we would've kicked somebody's ass for you in there. Yeah, no, thank you. It would've been a totally different experience for you 30 years later with us. Yeah. We'd have, I think the kind of the real, the turning point for me, so to speak,

or like what I thought really did it all for me. As cliche as it sounds was I had my daughter when I was incarcerated. And I don't know why, I do know why, I used to say I don't know why, but it's obvious. I never, it was the most honest accountability and self-reflection moment of my life. Yeah, that's great.

You know, I had to really sit down and do an assessment of, I was fixing, I just got the news, a guard knocks on my door to tell me that my daughter was born, he doesn't know her name, he has no information. And I am just sitting there like, realizing I'm worth like, I know this sounds funny, it's jail terms, but in jail you get commissary, you know?

And I had like maybe 20 Raymond soups, 10 honey buns, a couple of packs of Skittles, you know, and I had like maybe 20 Raymond soups Ten honey buns a couple of packs of skittles like I this is what I had to my name Yeah, I had the one pair of clothes that I was incarcerated in I had zero money. In fact, I was in debt I would restitution to my victim. I owed the courts. You know what I mean? Like I'm in debt I'm worth and I what the biggest thing I'm the most proud of in life is that I run the poker table and have like 30 soups, you know what I mean? Like that was my, and I was like, as a father, I should be proud of my daughter, you know what I mean? Like the thing I'm the most prideful about in my whole life

is that I've got myself get to such a low point in life that I'm proud of having ramen noodle soups in prison. You know what I'm saying? I don't know why, Sean, but man, that just covered me, dude. Like, man. I get it, I get it. It's funny. It's funny watching Jason, you must be just thinking

about the sodium from those soups I saw. Exactly, I was like, yeah, it's like the amount of- A thousand milligrams of soup. Oh, it would take a week to burn that off. And we will be right back. And now back to the show. So she's out there and you're in there and you're thinking I gotta get out of here

and when I do get out of here, I gotta stay out of here. And so that was what started to turn off the, not the instinct to commit crime, but just like the, I'm just gonna not have that be a part of what I do anymore. Yeah, so it's like something clicks, right? Yeah. Because I'll bet you, you didn't learn to be some great, nice, warm, loving human being in jail.

You always were that. I would assume that the crime pattern was probably just a reflection of kind of who you were hanging out with and that people you knew were doing the same thing and you happened to get caught and down this path you went. Yes? Yeah, and a lot of it too was financially driven.

Like where I lived at at the time, the only people that had money did crime. In my neighborhood, it was a real clear cut thing. You either did drugs or you sold drugs. Yeah, right. And even if you sold and did drugs, you were better off than the people that just did drugs. You know? Right, right, right.

And I know that sounds weird, but, and I'm not trying to get into like a bunch of childhood stuff here, but my mother struggled with her own things from addictive stuff to mental health stuff. My father had alcohol things. I was in a house where it seemed very common. Right.

You weren't doing something weird. Yeah, to me, this was what was happening. Yeah, like this was what was going on. It wasn't until later in life, and there's a famous quote in Alcoholics Anonymous that says, "'Change happens when the pain to remain the same is greater than the pain it takes to change. Yeah.

And that, yeah. That's interesting. That's cool, right? And that day in jail, I was like, I don't care how painful this change is, I'm gonna make this change. And man, it was, when I go back and speak at jails, the first time I went and spoke at a jail again,

I'll never forget I was leaving and I heard one guy whisper to another guy, he's like, all we gotta do is be rich and famous and all our problems are solved. So the next time I went and spoke, I forgot about, I never tell the most important part of the story was that the moment from coming home to jail and deciding I was gonna make the change

to seeing the fruits of the change was like a decade long process. Yeah. Right. You know what I mean? Like I didn't bear fruit from that change for 10 years. I was eating shit sandwiches, You know what I mean? I didn't bear fruit from that change for 10 years. I was eating shit sandwiches, you know what I mean? And just trying to find my way and living in a van and doing $50 shows and just like,

I was willing to sacrifice. Yeah, it's daily. When did you find singing? Did you start doing some of that in jail or were you doing some of that beforehand? I was rapping more in jail. That's how I kinda came up in hip hop. It was more of the language of the neighborhood.

But I would always sing the chorus. So like Friday nights we'd go down in the jail cell and we'd beat on the walls, and I don't know how loud this'd be, but like kinda how I'm beating on the table. And I would go every Friday and I would tap on that window. And I would tap on it for like two measures.

And before I dropped the first down bass note, you know the beat? And by the I would tap on it for like two measures, and before I dropped the first down bass note, you know the beat? And by the time I got through tapping for those two measures, the entire unit, 230 inmates, come downstairs. Jelly's finna rap, Jelly's finna rap. Wow. And I would always, yeah, I was crazy, right? And I would sing the chorus, and it was like,

there would be like, we'd be free. Like it felt like we were free for the night. You know what I mean? Like everybody's standing on tables. Ah, and then I'd write these like choruses like, I'll be gone for a little while, but I can't wait to see your sexy smile. But I wasn't really singing,

I was just like doing it like that. But they would love it. They'd be like, sing the gone for a little while song. You know what I'm saying? Because it's like our theme. Amazing, that's amazing. That's when I didn't realize I had the voice. Yeah, it was so cool watching music move them people

like that. Did you have an opportunity to meet, when you first started going and speaking in jails and reaching out to guys and helping people who you must have identified, were going through the same things that you did. And I know that that's something that, you know, I can relate to that when you meet somebody

who's gone through stuff that you went through and you can go, hey man, and did you then have an opportunity over the years to have guys come up to you and say, hey, I met you years ago. Hey, you changed, like you coming in here and speaking at this jail had an impact on my life and here's how. Have you had those moments?

I bet you have. I've had quite a few of them already, especially rehabs, so my rule is, I'm a man of faith and my rule is real simple. My faith, what I believe of my faith would require from me and the person that I follow is that I go speak at jails, I go feed the homeless, I go hang out with the widows, and I go to the rehabs.

Because that's where I think that the God I serve would want me to go, that's where the representation of him went, you know what I'm saying? So it's like. Yeah, of course. So I get it a lot, especially out of the rehabs. The jails too, the jails are so different though, because some of them guys I'm singing in front of

won't come home for another 10 or 20 years. But I will tell you a cool story. I went to the Oregon State Penitentiary to do the first, I brought the first music to the yard at the OSP, the original penitentiary in Oregon, the only death row left in Oregon, or was the only death row left. And we took the music back to the yard

and there was a guy who'd been in there for 19 years. And he tells my manager, man, he's like, man, I'm coming home at the end of this year. I come home the day after Christmas. I've been gone for 20 years, you know, whatever. I'm just looking forward to hanging out with my daughter. She's 22, I've been gone since she was two. So we fly him out in his daughter

for my New Year's Eve show. So imagine being incarcerated for 20 years. You come straight out. We put you in a first class flight with your little girl, who's not a little girl anymore. She's 22. And they came down and partied with us in Nashville all of New Year's Eve. That's amazing.

You know, and I just, I'm thinking about how over, I'm overwhelmed by this, right? And I've been doing this a few years. I just imagine what this guy's feeling, you know? And great, went straight home and got a job and just the character of a man whose vision and dream in jail was to go do an activity with his daughter. He's like, man, I've missed 20 years of my little girl's life.

The first thing I wanna do is go home and be a part of her life. That's so amazing. How soon after your daughter was born did you get out? I got home when she was almost two. Yeah. And this story is even probably the coolest part of this whole story, Jay.

My daughter, her mother at the time, because I was rightfully so a fucking criminal, wouldn't let me see her. So I had to go to court, I had to get supervised visits through the courtroom. Like I had to step that very slow, build a relationship, then six hours on Friday evening, but she had to be home before 10 p.m.

And then I just had to keep going to the court every six months and going, look, I'm continuing to prove I'm changing, I'm in college. Look, I'm doing this. I'm like, music, being famous, wasn't even a thought then. I just wanted to be a good dad. I just came home. I just wanted to be a good dad. I just came home.

I just wanted to focus on just being the best father. You're working on those 10 years. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? I was just building that. Fast forward, that same little girl that was born when I was incarcerated is fixing to turn 17 years old. She's got one of the highest GPAs at her high school.

She's a dual enrollment kid and is junior going to college. Me and my wife have had full custody of her for eight years. This is one of her best friends. You know what I'm saying? It just is. Oh, what a great story. Wait, so she's been living with you for the last eight years? Yep.

Oh, that's great. It's awesome, dude. How cool. It's such a great story of how anything is possible. It's so great, man. Again, that part of your, well, all of your story, I find so inspirational. I mentioned before too, when you went

and testified before Congress, and it was about a year ago, wasn't it? It was like January of last year. And really advocated for limiting or getting rid of, or what was it, fentanyl and all that stuff. And I remember you were like, I used to be part of the problem. I was a drug dealer and now I want to be part of the problem. I was a drug dealer and now I wanna be part of the solution.

Didn't you say something like that? That's exactly what I said, Will. Thank you, sir. And were you trying to help them out on what might be some more efficient ways for them to exact some change? Yeah, yeah, we're working on, there's a, it's a double-sided sword.

We were working on a bill to stop the flow and the demand, so it's trying to figure out the balance. But it was breaking my heart that the statistic I gave, Jason was, and I don't know if you know this either, Sean, this will blow y'all's mind if you don't, but over 160-something people in America die every single day of fentanyl overdoses. How many?

160. 160-something. To give y'all the reference I used in America die every single day to fentanyl overdoses. How many, how many? 160 something. To give y'all the reference I used that the fentanyl hearing is, that is a 737 plane crashing full of human souls every single day. Wow. Now if it was a plane that was crashing every single day, I don't predict this happens for four days

before every airline in America shut down and there is a national crisis. It does something about it. Right. If there was a hundred and something squirrels in Central Park dying a day, there would be pickets out there who saved the squirrels.

Rightfully so, I'd be one of the picketers. You know what I mean? Like literally. So to me it's just, we can't minimize human life because they're struggling with an addiction. Addictions aren't a personal problem. That's how we've looked at them as society. We've dismissed addiction as, well, they're getting with an addiction. Addictions aren't a personal problem. That's how we've looked at them in society. We've dismissed addiction as,

well, they're getting what they deserve. They chose to do those drugs. And it's like, if you don't really understand addiction, then I could see where you would say that. But now we're in a place where everybody knows an addict. Everybody has a friend or a family member who's like, no, that dude was a great guy or a great woman, and then she got on drugs and I didn't recognize her,

couldn't talk to her. Yeah, my brother died, my brother was an alcoholic and he died from it, yeah. So you know, it's totally different. Can you die from chin chin? Because Sean's white knuckling right now. 167 days in a row. I thought that was the number that Sean had

had the chicken cow, what was it? Kung Pao chicken. Kung Pao chicken. It's just gonna take you down, Sean. Look at, I can't stop. The wanton chip is incredible. So, Jelly, talk a little bit about, man, so you get out and you decide to make a change

because your daughter, and you've been making music, as you alluded to, while you were there, and now you're out and you're going to school and you're working on reestablishing your relationship with your kids and all that stuff. What's the moment, what's the first musical breakthrough moment? What's the moment where you go, oh, wait a second,

we might have something. What's the first song, mixtape, what is it? Walk us through that a little bit. Thank you, this is a question I never get asked because this is like a throw throwback. Because I know the tipping point moment, like what Malcolm Gladwell would say was my moment was a song called Save Me.

Oh yeah. But what I know was my moment. Because we know our moment before everybody else does, right, like as an artist. Like we know a moment that's like, y'all might not have seen it there but something in me triggered like I got something here yeah I came home and my buddy had had bought a flip can from

Best Buy his name is Chad Arms and he was like hey man they got this new thing called YouTube that came out since you've been incarcerated it was like it's kind of like Facebook but only for videos I was like fire he was like yeah you gotta go to a laptop, right? So he turns on a beat and I just got out of jail. He's like, yo, just start rapping or something. I'll cut it up later. And I put out this thing called the 10-minute freestyle.

It got taken down later because I said something about my parole officer and got in trouble. But I'm just like, you know, I'm a young kid out of jail so I'm just talking shit, rapping. And he put it on YouTube and at the time it was called the 10-minute freestyle, and I won't make y'all do the quiz,

I normally go pop quiz, why was it called the 10-minute freestyle? And it's because at the time, YouTube wouldn't let you upload a video longer than 10 minutes. That was the YouTube bandwidth, was 10-minute, 21-second videos. And at the time, they called it viral because it got like 40,000 views.

This is baby YouTube infancy. So I was like, this is it, We're gonna be, this is gonna work. People care, you know? This is like, it was different because when you're passing mixtapes out in the neighborhood, you see the neighborhood caring. But it's like, is somebody outside the neighborhood ever gonna care?

So I was like, there's not 40,000 people in my neighborhood. We're hot, this is real. You know what I mean? Wow. Right, you can build an audience and they like what you're doing. People that don't even know you like what you're doing. That's it, yeah. That's powerful.

It was easier when people knew you. Like school, in y'all's world maybe like school theater. It's like, yeah, of course, you know, but like when you had to go do it at another high school, it's like, whoa, I might be onto something. I'm not a big hit here. You know what I mean? Yeah, right, right, right.

So you make this YouTube video and you get a little bit of traction early days of YouTube, and then presumably you make some more and you start doing that kind of more. When do you, when do you first start getting like the sniffing around from the corporate entities that like to control these kinds of things and make, and see, they see dollar signs for themselves from you?

Man, I tell you how lucky I got, and I think y'all got lucky like this too, is that nobody's seen what was happening until it kind of happened. So like by the time the labels were calling, I was making seven figures a year off my YouTube. Right. Oh wow. You know what I mean?

So by the time they call, it's just like, then they call like, hey, we'll give you a million dollars. I was like, I made that, what are you talking about? Yeah, you're gonna have to come up with something better. know what I mean? It's crazy, I was like, y'all gotta come. So the first call to answer your question directly came in like 2018. We didn't negotiate a deal till 2021. Wow.

Because they kept coming, I was like, I don't think, y'all see the metrics, but y'all aren't. When I finally signed my record deal, I love talking about inside baseball, how the sausage is made, it's my favorite. I know, it's so good. Yeah, we do too. We do too. We do too.

So we love it. Yeah, when I finally signed my record deal, I had already had 3 million or 2.5 million YouTube subscribers, a billion views on my YouTube channel. Wow, amazing. I'd already had a couple of gold records independently. I was selling two to 4,000 tickets everywhere in the Midwest and Southeast, everywhere in the Bible Belt

or the Rust Belt. If it ended with belt, we were killing there. You know what I mean? So it's like, you know, once we got left of Colorado, we, you know what I'm saying? But we knew we'd work our way out here eventually. It's a- Left of Colorado.

So by the time they started sniffing around, I was like, look, here's kind of where we are and I got the deal I dreamed of. Right, yeah, exactly. Because they had to do something better than what you're ever doing. How about this, y'all know, y'all will get this, I own 100% of my master recordings,

I own 100% of my publishing, I own my IP completely, I own everything to do with who I am as me. And now you have a whole library that you can hold onto for the rest of your life, pass it on to your daughter or whatever you want to do with who I am as me. And now you have a whole library that is, you can hold onto for the rest of your life, pass it on to your daughter or whatever you wanna do. Yeah. Yep, put, just, you know what I did with it,

paid the taxes on early and put it in the trust and let it grow. Yeah. Put the catalog there for the family. Let them, I broke generational curses, baby. Yeah. How did you, and then so you jumped into that community of,

I'll say in quotes, legitimacy, right? Where you're now you're at these shows with all of these sort of established acts and these record labels and all of the sort of the infrastructure. How have you found that community? Because you came from such a- Yeah, you're an outlier.

Yeah, and you're the real deal. And how has that merged with you and how have you merged with them? It's been great. It's been really cool. My deal from the beginning was, look man, I'll trust y'all if y'all trust me. So, you know, let's just not question each other at all.

So when y'all ask for something, I'm not going to question y'all. Y'all know what y'all are doing. But equally, if I tell you I want to put out an album a year or 30 songs on an album, or I start making some of these what might seem like crazy artistic choices, I was like, you just got to let me ride my wave.

This is what I've been doing. This is just the way I operate. You know, I came into a label that was used to doing at the time two year, three year album cycles, I was like, you just gotta let me ride my wave. This is what I've been doing. This is just the way I operate. I came into a label that was used to doing, at the time, two year, three year album cycles, and I put out an album a year for the first three years on my deal. I just came in at a totally different pace.

Well, they're smart to listen to you because more people in those positions should listen to the artist. I mean, you're you because of who you are. You'll make them the money they're looking for if you just leave you alone. And it's born fruit. You've had these number one singles.

You've had, I mean, your single, I Am Not Okay, or I mean, which is a great song. It's such a great song. As I alluded to in the intro, it deals with, you know, ideas of mental health and really talking about it openly. I love that song, dude. I think that it's really powerful and inspirational. But that thing, that was a massive hit.

And that came, that's the record label trusting you and you going, I know what I'm doing. And then you put a song like that out that just explodes. For sure. That must've felt vindicating. Like, I know what I'm doing. It felt great, especially with the label because I'm like, I just came off the song, Save Me've felt vindicating, like, I know what I'm doing. It felt great, especially with the label,

because I'm like, I just came off the song Save Me With Lainey, which was a huge hit for me, but it was a big ballad. So here I am going back to the label, I'm like, hey look, I don't wanna turn, I know y'all are gonna think I'm the male Adele here, but it's like, I've got another big ballad that I love. You know what I'm saying?

I was like, I think it's gonna touch people. You know what I'm saying? Madel is a good song. Yeah, Madel, ah, take? I was like, I think it's gonna touch people. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, Modell, ah, take that one, Sean, I'll steal it. What if I named my album that? Forgive my naivete, but if I'm a label and I no longer have to print albums and cassettes and DVD or CDs or whatever the hell it is,

what would be the burden that I would have to bear if my artist wants to put out an album a year? In other words, how much do I have to spend as a label because you're making the music and then you just put it out digitally, is there, what would give them pause to have that kind of frequency? You know?

Spot on. What would be the biggest pause have that kind of frequency? You know? Spot on. What would be the biggest pause for most artists, not me, is that they need their money. So every time they're going to record a new album, they gotta tap in and go, hey, I need a million dollars. Oh, I see. To record this record. They just gotta pay you your fee.

So that's, but are they fronting you that fee that they then can claw back with the sales? Gotcha. And at the rate of the deal, it's the worst thing in the music business. I've been preaching against this for so long. I refuse to do it. That's why I don't take their money at all.

Right, is that because in any other business, what the record businesses do to artists would be illegal. Right, like if a bank did it or a car lot did it, they'd shut them down. Okay. Because, because what is it? Because you're not allowed to put an interest rate on that kind of money.

Right. But if you don't call it a loan, you call it an advance. Mm-hmm. Right, so when I take the word loan out of it, I call it an advance, and then we recoup it at the rate of the deal. So let's say, Jason, excuse me. Do you need to blow your nose, Sean? Can you run over there real quick?

Thank you, Sean. Let's say y'all three do a smartless album, right? Sure. What instrument would each of us play? Go ahead and assign us each an instrument. Okay, everybody gets an instrument. I think this would be something unique. What would it strike you as?

You look like you could rock a saxophone. That's hurtful. It could be a really cool curve ball to see you with a saxophone. I would love to see, just because I think this would be so out of pocket for the crew, is if Sean was like the electric guitar player and he carried like a big,

just gaudy, Gretsch, just one of them huge, oversized guitars. And then wheels on the keytar? No, you gotta have a drummer. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's not a drummer. He fancies himself a drummer.

The most athletic of us, yeah. The youngest queuingwing most athletic. And I'm just blowing things. Just stick with what you're good at, dude. Blowing air. Wet my reed. All right, so. But pretend y'all get the deal.

Pretend y'all get the deal, right? And I say, it's a 70-30 deal, 70% in the favor of the label, 30% for y'all, then I'll give you a million dollars to record the first Smartless deal, right? And I say, it's a 70-30 deal, 70% in the favor of the label, 30% for y'all, then I'll give you a million dollars to record the first Smartless album, right? They're like, okay, we get 10% apiece, they're putting up all the money, you sign the deal.

But the problem is, I recoup at the rate of the deal, which means every time Smartless makes a dollar, I take 70 cents of that dollar, and I go, this is mine, that was our deal. You're like, yep, and then I go now this would be your 30 cents But I'm gonna put this 30 cents towards the million dollars you owe me Right. Wow Yeah, that's a that's that is a 70% interest rate gentlemen. I don't care how you slice or butter that bread. Yeah

Now you could you found legal loopholes to make it not that but ultimately that's absurd, you know the name. Yeah We'll be right back And now back to the show Now let me ask you something how did you become so savvy did you have did you have your pitfalls along the way and you learn and and This is the result of that is now you're like, I know how to do deals now because you must have made some bad ones

in order to know what good ones are. Yeah, well, that's what happened. And ultimately, the cool thing was nobody wanted to sign me. So like when nobody wants to work with you, but you're like, I had to figure it out myself. Right, so you had to make it yourself and by the time they came to you and they're like, hey, here's how the deals are, you're like,

hang on a second, the math doesn't add up. I don't need your fucking money under your system. I'm making plenty on my own. Right, when you, yeah, when you kind of see that, when you see that math up front, you go like, uh-uh. Yeah, no, as soon as you see it, and then you're aware, because I've done enough distribution deals, and early in my career, I had to take a little money, so you'd go get 100 it, and then you're aware, because I've done enough distribution deals. And early in my career, I had to take a little money.

So you'd go get 100 grand, and then you'd see it took you six months to pay the 100 grand back. And you're like, by the time I paid the 100 grand back, they made a half a million dollars. I was like, I'm trippin'. This is, you know, it wasn't even, you go through that enough times that when it finally happens, the label calls,

hey, we'll give you, and that's where labels kept messing up. The first three or four labels, oh, I love talking about this, the first three or four labels that would call me would just offer me money. They thought I was just some dumb redneck, which they were right,

but they thought I was a dumber redneck than they thought I was. And they would come and they'd be like, hey, you know, listen, I'll never forget one label said, it's a blank check. Like, whatever you want it to be within reason, you put the amount of money you want us to give you and then we'll put a number of albums with it.

Right, gotcha. You know, and I had a guy at the time who was ill advising me, who was like, let's just ask for like 10 or 20 million bucks, dude. This will change both of our lives forever. He was like kind of managing me a little bit. I was like, right then I was like, I think I need to find another manager.

You know what I'm saying? I was like, I don't think this is right. I was like, cause I'm need to find another manager. You know what I'm saying? I was like, I don't think this is right. I was like, cause I'm also in a space where, you know, mama didn't raise no fool. You know what I mean? It's like, I was smart enough to go, I don't, if they think I can make $20 million, and that's what these people do is they count beans

and determine if people can make $20 million, I think I can make $20 million. You know what I'm saying? I was like, maybe I'm crazy to think that, but you know what I mean? I was like, they should know bigger. No, they showed their cards. Yeah, exactly.

Anytime somebody comes at you with a number and says, hey, this out of the blue and says, this is what we want to give you, you're like, all right, this is a great starting point. They're obviously worth way more than that. They're building in a pad that's favorable to them. We've had our own experience with that ourselves. But now, so the industry standard on the deal structure

for live performance, so touring and stuff like that, is much more in the favor of the artist, is that correct? Yeah, well, yeah, always. Ancillary participation is what they call it, to try to get us away from the 360 deal, which is what it is still, they just gave it a cooler name. But it's always in favor of the artist, depending on what your deal was

and how much money you took. I know some artists in town that did bad ancillary deals too though. They did like 50-50 or 70-30 ancillaries. So they're in this 80-20 record deal where they're only getting 20% of their streaming royalties, don't own any of the masters. 100% of the masters will own by the label

for the rest of their careers. Wow, right, right, that's crazy. And then they go out and they'll do a 60, 40 ancillary participation. And the problem with that is. Meaning the concerts? Yeah, but the problem with that is is that if I give the label even 80%,

let's say, I mean 20%, let's say I said, you know what, we've done great, y'all built my profile, I'll give you 20%. Booking agent wants 10. Management's still coming in at 15. Business manager's still at five, which I've negotiated all those fees back over the years, but I mean, you know how this works.

I mean, if you just, next thing you know, what I try to advise artists is this, you're gonna end up in a situation where you're gonna make what your manager's making if you're not careful. You know what I mean? You're gonna look one day, when you and your manager move

in the same neighborhood together, you're in trouble. You know what I'm saying? You get to keep all the merchandise money, how does that work? It's normally in the S-layers. Same ratio? But yeah, just whatever that is.

It's ticket sales? It's out of mind completely. Do you feel like you have to tour whether that's emotionally, financially, spiritually, or do you want to tour? Because I ask people this often who come on the show, who are musicians or in bands, because I'm such a homebody,

like whenever I have to go anywhere and pack and then shack up at a hotel. Pack is the reason. Yeah, like pack a suitcase. The idea of going out and learning in the world is really what really holds me back is the idea that I have to fucking pack. Hire somebody to fucking pack for me.

I hate packing. You're not learning anything at your fucking house. Jesus Christ. Maybe I am. Both you guys, I'm gonna bury you both. I'm learning a lot today. It's the idea ofhing in a strange room. Oh, jeez.

No, well the whole point of all of that was I'm such a homebody, I can't imagine going on tour all the time every year. So different way of saying he's lazy, by the way. Yeah, exactly, what's that like for you? Well, I think it's a need and a want. I need to write music. That's something I know.

For like my spirit and my therapy, like I have to write songs. Like I have, there's something in me. I'm very, very empathic. I meet people every day. I hear these stories about how my music has helped people through dark moments and that stuff sits with me.

I don't find a way to exercise that. Touring for me is just the old school, like I'm an old school rock and roll dude, man. I still smoke pot and play the guitar a couple hours every day just for fun if I can. You know what I mean? I can still just get lost in jamming and learning other people's songs.

Like I love this life. I love the pace. I love the bus. I love the smell of diesel fuel. I love pilot truck stops at 6 a.m., Sean. I mean, I love all that stuff. You know what I mean? That stuff is the stuff that does something for me.

Sean does too, different reasons. Yeah, in my 20s, different reason for truck stops. It was change, yeah. What was it like, what was the moment when you got that first Grammy nomination? What was... Oh, I cried, baby. Snot rocket crying.

Did you? Oh, nasty, couldn't quit crying. Then I called my mama to tell her, and I videoed myself calling her, and my mama's a little older, you know? So I'm like, mama, I just got nominated. I'm snot rocketed, so she can't hear me. I'm just blowing snot bubbles, and she goes,

you said something about some money? I said, no, mama, I said the Grammys. She said, but you said your granny? I said, no, mama, I said the Grammys. She said, you said your granny? I said, no, mama, I said I just got nominated for a Grammy. And she's so funny, she goes, well, that's good. And then two seconds later, she goes, hey, I seen a picture of you and Tanya Tucker together. How cool was she?

I'm still crying. And my mama's asking about Tanya Tucker, the country singer. She had seen a picture of us together on the internet. She's like, what's up with Tanya Tucker though? But it was cool, man. It was, in our business, it don't get no bigger, man. The easiest way to describe it is, I've been blessed to win a CMA.

I've been blessed to win an ACM. I've been blessed to win a CMP. You swept the CMAs, right? I mean, you cleaned up. I've had some big moments. And being nominated for a Grammy, just the nomination trumps all those. Sure, yeah.

Before I got nominated for a Grammy, I was introduced as the CMA, ACM award-winning, multi-platinum recording artist. Right. I am now introduced real easy. Grammy nominated, recording artist, jelly girl. Just being nominated, got every award I'd ever want even being in my title.

You know what I'm saying? Like that's how cool it is. So who would you be most excited to meet at a big event? Like say like the Grammys or something like that. Ooh, that's a good one because at the last Grammys I got to meet Taylor. Taylor Swift came and talked to me and I felt like the belle of the ball, dog.

When I tell you I felt like king shit. I felt dog. When I tell you, I felt like king shit. I felt the same way I felt when Howard Stern hugged me. Right, when Howard hugged me, I was like, dude, this dude likes me for real. I'm looking and Taylor's walking across the room and it's like, this is Taylor Swift, so you're just watching people part like the Red Sea. They're just like, and as she's walking,

and my wife grabs me, she goes, I think Taylor's walking over here. I was like, no, no, and I'm looking at her and she's looking at me and I was like, no, I think she's walking to my wife, and she goes, I think Taylor's walking over here. I was like, no, no, and I'm looking at her, and she's looking at me, and I was like, no, I think she's walking over to Boy Wonder, because Boy Wonder was sitting, Boy Genius was sitting in front of me. And I think she's walking over to Boy Genius.

And she did, she walked right up to me, gave me a hug, it was super cool. I was like, I'm so excited. That's amazing. And then I was so nervous, I fumbled. I forgot, I was gonna tell her this great emotional story about how I pushed my daughter on the swing set of the park she built in her old hometown, and I just could not remember. I forgot, I was gonna tell her this great emotional story about how I pushed my daughter on the swing set

of the park she built in her old hometown. And I just could not remember it. I was like, the park, my daughter, I was like, it was just so bad. You'll get that chance again, I'm sure. I got to meet Jay-Z there too, it was really cool. Stevie Wonder, I mean, it was like, it was definitely, Ed Sheeran came and talked to me, I mean,

it was really cool. All good people, yeah. Yeah, that is so cool. You know, it's funny, I was thinking about your song, well, I'm Not Okay, but Save Me, and all your songs, and Son of a Sinner, and I got to hang out with a singer-songwriter a few months ago. We were out late night, and he was playing all his songs, but acoustically,

there were a bunch of us in this room. And I was like, and when I was listening to him play these songs acoustically and singing with the power and the emotion, I was like, these are the poets of our time. Country music has become, they speak about the heart of what's going on. and when you listen to the lyrics and you listen to the passion, especially in an acoustic

setting, I found it in, when it was like really stripped down, it blew my mind, man. I was so moved by this. It was probably a guy, do you know Thomas Rhett? It was- Of course, T.R. is my buddy. Yeah, I was with Thomas and he was playing and he was playing some of his songs

and he was playing some of lots of other people's songs as well, man, it was, and it's true. I mean, I don't know how much you guys, Sean and JB have listened to a lot of the country that's coming out now and the stuff that, it's unbelievable, man. Yeah, a little good. Yeah, it's all good.

It's all good stuff. Well, you gotta think, all the poets have always ended up in Nashville. Bob Dylan went out of his way to come down here and write and do Nashville Skyline. One of the only places James Taylor frequented besides his island of his own where he rode out up on the Northeast was he'd come to Nashville

every now and then. Like, it's always kind of leaned that way. And I think that we're having the biggest moment we've ever had with it. But what you get to experience is what I tell people that makes country music more special than every genre is that it's all about the song with us. Like, it's all about the hits with the other genres.

Like, not in a bad way, but like, you know, it's a lot of production, it's a very produced thing. But like, in our business is, if I take all that shit out and I just grab my guitar right now, or if I grab this piano right now and I break this song down, just me and you acoustic, it really makes the song stand out. Right, and what you're talking about, yeah.

It's incredible. I was so moved in a way that it was really unexpected, man. No, dude, especially when you get to do it like that. Like, when we're all, the best is when you get three or four or five of us in a room together and we're playing past the guitar. Oh, ha ha, that's pretty cool. It's awesome when we're like, yo, what did you write?

He's like, yo, I wrote this last week and then Thomas Rhett's singing a song that might not ever come out that he just wrote. And then I'm singing a song I might not ever put out that I just wrote, because it's like anything else, I just wrote it, so I think it's the best song I ever wrote. I gotta listen to it for two months before I'm like, this song's not that good.

Listen, I'm not trying to create my own private concert for me, but what I would like to do, and my dream would be to come to like Nashville and hang out with you and tell them, what a great guy, you guys would love him too, right? He's such a great guy, right? Jelly and he's the awesome, what a talent.

Talent and awesome guy. Great husband, great father, he's the awesome, what a talent. Talent and awesome guy. Great husband, great father, I mean, just present. Just all around. But to come in and hang out, that would be like a dream. That would be a total dream to be a fly on the wall with a bunch of you guys. It would be unbelievable. I mean, come any time.

The cool thing about it is we do it. Wow. I think it's what made, it's similar to what y'all do, it's what made Smart List the biggest podcast on the earth. We immediately heard three friends who were at the top of their class, but our buddies at core, just hanging out and being fucking buddies.

Like, that's us. Like, when we're all sitting around together, passing a guitar, like, we're not a bunch of country music superstars, we're a bunch of dumbass songwriters trying to show that we can still write dumb ass songs. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, no, you're right.

Two buddies and Jason and we, you know, we do the show and that's... We got him everybody! We got him! How about this, this is probably as stupid as all the other questions I ever ask, but what about, I would imagine that your life before things got better was a richer pot from you to pull from to write songs versus now, are you, the question is, are you as inspired with stuff to write about now that things have the edges

a little bit more rounded in your life, deservedly so? Or are you still finding stuff that really grabs your heartstrings now? I pull from a little less personal pain, but I've gotten a thousand more muses. Okay, great. It kind of balanced itself out. I get, I'm not making this number up,

I'm sure y'all do too, but I get thousands of messages across every platform a day and 70% of them are like real, hey man, your song helps me out of a hole. I got sober to your music. I dealt with the death of my father with cancer to this song, like this song, like, we played this at my mother's funeral,

we played this at my cousin who had a fentanyl overdose at his funeral, so like, it goes back to me being very empathic. Yeah, yeah. I feel this, like I'm the kind of guy that's like, if you start crying, I will cry. We will cry together, I have a nobody cries alone policy. You know Like I'm the kind of guy that's like, if you start crying, I will cry. We will cry together. I have a nobody cries alone policy.

You know what I'm saying? It's just automatically. So it's like I hear these stories. I hear these stories every day. So I'm not, I had a, man, this is, I've never said it this way, but there was a moment I thought I was special because of where I was from and what I'd been through.

Like I thought like, oh, the world's clicking for me because all this shit I went through makes me special. And then I realized what makes me special is that we've all been through some sort of shit and that I am a representation of that. And once I realized that I wasn't telling my unique specialty story, I was telling the story of millions of American who have felt the same kind of pain

and don't take this, Sean, to speak on it, but I speak for Sean's brother. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I am an active voice for Sean's brother right now. Brother Sean knew that before it is called or not. Most of my life mission is getting people to understand that alcoholics and addicts are good people. They're not bad people,

they're just in the middle of a bad situation. That's exactly right. And it's one of the core tenets of recovery is that idea is that you're exactly right, you're not unique, it's that people can identify with that. Exactly. And it's through that identification that it creates community,

and community is the opposite of addiction. When you can create that. Mm, that's it. It's so powerful. The opposite of addiction is connection, baby. You're know. I mean, it's so powerful. The opposite of addiction is connection, baby. You're speaking to me, Will, let's go. That's it, man. It's so true. It's so true.

And then when you do that, when you go through that and everything that you've been through and everything you just said, Mr. Roll, is that you are now, like I said, at the beginning of this interview, you are now a light and you speak so eloquently about everything you've been through and the kind of enlightenment that you've gone through and it's such a,

like people are now drawn to you for those reasons and people seek out your advice, your guidance. It's really fascinating. And they're uplifted through that connection. Yeah. and people seek out your advice, your guidance. It's really fascinating. And they're uplifted through that connection. Yeah. The message is different when it, a message always hits different

when it comes from one of its own. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like that's why I go back to jails and that's why I go to rehabs because I remember none of our own ever came back and talked to us. So no matter how well intentioned other people were,

it just didn't hit, you know what I mean? Because it wasn't coming from a place that we could like. And it lights you up as much as music lights you up. The messaging, yeah, I love that. I love that. Yes, baby, it's my real purpose, man, is to serve. Giving it away is the best feeling of all, right? I mean, that's where the power comes from.

That's the hack that people don't really. You need a blessing, be a blessing, baby. You need a blessing, be a blessing, baby. You need a blessing, be a blessing. Well, it's like, you know, if you're feeling unloved it's because you're not being loving. That's been my experience. And if I push love out on people, I get that back on me tenfold.

And that's the hack. Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. It's 100% true. If you're, and this is a hack that I, that I'm a little reluctant to share. This is% true. If you're, and this is a hack that I, that I'm a little reluctant to share, this is totally true. That I find if I'm feeling low, or if I'm feeling like unconnected,

or I'm feeling lonely, or whatever, I reach out to somebody else and ask them how they're doing. It's the most unbelievable, you know, and you can- I'm gonna send you my number in the chat. Just at the bottom of the screen. We know how you're doing. You're at home in your thing. Like, and Sean, I know it.

You're at home having no experience. You know, it's a sad Hollywood story. They can't even do a real life Hollywood story because there's not enough info. There's not enough life. They can't fill an hour because it's too boring. It's got famous and rich and sad in his house. Who's going to watch that?

A webisode. We could do a webisode. We might be able to do a webisode. We'll go back, Jason. We'll produce it for Dum Dum. Look it. Scotty got me this pencil holder. It's a little typewriter.

There we go. I'm excited about that. That took up a week. That was a week. That was a week of shit, just to get that. Jelly Roll Man, honestly having you here has been so amazing. This is awesome. Yeah, you're just such an inspiration

and thank goodness that you are who you are, man. You've touched a lot of people. You certainly touched me and I know you've helped a lot of people. So thank you for your kindness and your voice and everything and your music and your artistry, all of it, dude. Well, thanks for inviting me on.

Jason, thanks for mistaking me for Kitty Chesney, who's a foot shorter and 300 pounds lighter. And Sean, I love you to absolute death, man. I love all of y'all. I can't thank y'all enough for what y'all are doing for the world, man. How happy y'all are making people, how much joy you're bringing to people's car

every day. It's, man, I just hope y'all know that this was, I'm sure y'all did it just to, you know, just to connect with each other and it just kind of spread, but man, that's, you are helping so many people, man. You are a direct servant, man. You don't even, I'm sure you know it. I'm acting like y'all don't know, but you're many people, man. You are a direct servant, man. You don't even, I'm sure you know it. I'm acting like y'all don't know,

but you're serving people, dog. You're not wasting an hour or two of your life every day just shooting the shit with your friends, man. You're helping a lot. My therapist listens to y'all. He's never been excited about me doing anything, but this was like a really big deal. This and Jay Shetty for him were like, whoa, I can't believe.

I'm sure you're as thankful as we are that people are actually listening to what it is we wanna say, right? And it's a real joy. It's a blessing. Y'all lead with love, baby. Y'all lead with love. Thanks, bro.

And if you're ever in LA, please let's have a meal or something. I would love that. Please, we'll do it. Yeah, we'll live for sure. Well, I'll reach out. I'd love to see y'all again sometime, man. Love to have you.

Yeah. Thank you, the great Jellie Roll, thank you brother. Thanks for being with us. What a nice man, that's a nice way to start the day. I didn't get a chance to talk to him at our event. I mean, just said hello. But I was struck as you were, just how infectious his light, his energy was, his warmth,

when he shook our hands. It was kind of took me back. He's the kind of guy you want to hang out with. You want in your life, it'll make your life better. Those kinds of people make your life better. He makes, he's, there's a guy, again, like he's just, when he's turned his life around and he's spent, he's dedicated his life

to making other people's lives better, which is fucking awesome. Yeah, I love it. You know, that option is available to you, Will. Yeah. Listen, I'm out there with the one. You can start today. I'm trying.

I mean, I'm not the one, again, I can't, you guys have nothing to talk, what are you talking about on a talk show? It just occurred to me, there's nothing. What are you talking about? Oh, I come up with bits. Yeah. You know, I come up with bits, you know, funny stories.

I come up with bits. you know, funny stories. I come up with bits. I tell garbage about how I don't like to walk around hotel rooms with my bare feet and crap like that. I just make it up. Oh my God. But we know them all. How much you run out of them?

Oh yeah, I do need some new stories. I know. I know. Will, you're always like, you got to go see the world so you have something to talk about. It's true. Well, just not even just on talks. You're just in general read books meet people. I do get off my fucking back No I'm gonna get off your fucking back I was put on this planet to be on your back egging you on to I want you to be a better

I love Sean Hayes. Yeah, I want the best for him. Okay? Very nice. Why don't you just turn on CNN International and you can see it. No, you're not. You're at home. Or watch a movie with whatever landmark you want to see. It's about getting into the world, you know. It's so cool.

What about my sheets and my pillow? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or Sean, you should get to what you're looking at on your screen. Go ahead. What was your thought? Oh no. I'm looking, I can't find one. Are you trying to think of, well, you know,

if you could travel a lot back and forth to Los Angeles and New York, if you had to. Well, we've done that. We've used that one so many times. Bye. What about this, but I don't want to travel anywhere because I'd miss you guys, because if I leave somewhere, I'd have to wave. Good.

Good. Bye. I feel like we've done that too. That's right. We never come up with anything where bye is in the middle of a word. Okay, wind by our nose, Psalm go by, two by two, selling by him.

Hey, listen, listen, listen. A house by the lake. Listen, the good news is you can go anywhere in the world, right, and you can do stuff. And if something happens back home, if somebody gets hurt, somebody gets killed, and the cops interview you, if you're out of town, you've got a great alibi.

Bye. Bye. Oh, that's good. Bye. Yeah, that's fantastic. Well. Eh, eh, eh, eh. Smart. Nice. That fence passed me well. SmartLess

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