(REVIEW) Jelly Roll, a musician with an unusual name, featured in the documentary “Jelly Roll: Save Me” shows a redemption journey still in progress. The gritty country singer rose to fame with his breakout song “Save Me.” The documentary gives fans a look into a troubled person that has chosen to walk a path of grace through music. 

The documentary was produced by ABC Studios but can be watched on the Hulu platform. The music star’s real name is Jason Deford — his mother gave him the name Jelly Roll when he was younger. That name stuck because he was a “chubby kid,” in his own words. 

“Jelly Roll: Save Me” is made up of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and footage of his concerts. Unfiltered and honest are the two words I would use to describe the documentary. The artist doesn’t shy away from his past sins. There are many times where he is in disbelief that he has come so far. I find it refreshing that a celebrity is honest about their shortcomings, including shortcomings with which they still struggle. 

“I’m the one dude that’s just singing songs of the broken,” Jelly Roll says in the film. “This community has allowed me to speak on our behalf — on behalf of the depressed, the stressed, the anxious and the addicted. I’m just documenting what I see and what I know. I have been a drug addict. I’ve been a loser. I’ve been a stealer.”

It’s fitting that the first song in the documentary is “Son of a Sinner.” The country rock song spent 20 weeks on the Hot Rock and Alternative Songs list. The song details the struggles of a “long-haired son of a sinner” dealing with addictive ways and God's judgment:

Might pop a pill and smoke and maybe drink.

Talk to God and tell Him what I think.

At first He's gonna hate me.

But eventually He'll save me.

Jelly Roll is a Nashville native and from a very young age ran the streets with the wrong crowd. By the time Jelly was 15 years old, he had tried hardcore drugs. Because of that life, he spent many of his younger years in jail. A pivotal moment for him was when he found out he had a daughter while in jail. He decided to make a change and turn to music. 

“I just hope that people judge the music and not the man” Jelly Roll says in the film. “I no longer have a deadly addiction to pain pills or codeine. I no longer have a deadly addiction to cocaine. But I still smoke a little weed to keep my head straight, and I will still get blackout drunk. Every now and then, we’ll do something wild.” 

Although he is a breakout country star, his music is a combination of many styles. It’s infused with rock, rap, soul and even gospel. Many of Jelly’s songs mention God or spirituality, which isn’t surprising seeing as he has a big cross tattooed underneath his right eye. 

In an interview on YouTube, Jelly gets emotional talking about his churchgoing father. Jelly would learn a lot about responsibility and duty because his father was a faithful member of a Methodist church. Jelly recalls his father‘s funeral — seeing hundreds of people from the church and the bar he frequented. 

“I had a moment (at the funeral) and thought, wouldn’t that be cool to be that guy?” Jelly Roll said. “What he showed me was the duality of who he was, that somebody could be so loved at a bar and be so loved at a church.”

A choir was included in the song “Need A Favor” because Jelly wanted that old-school church feel. The same music he remembered when he went to church as a child. The choir he chose for the song was The Fisk Jubilee Singers, an African American a cappella ensemble that sings negro spirituals. The Jubilee Choir has existed for over 100 years and began in 1871. 

“I felt like it needed that back-road Baptist feel (in ‘Need A Favor’) where the entire sermon scares you to heaven and the organ hits and they go, “But there’s hope,’” Jelly says in the documentary. “That’s what this new music is for me: It’s the organ hitting and there being hope.”

That gospel presence in his songs is significant because Jelly Roll views his shows as more than just concerts. 

“I came to a conclusion early that this wasn’t a concert. This is a healing experience,” Jelly Roll says in the documentary. “I really look at this as a form of church to a degree. I know the power of the old back-road Baptist churches and the impact they had on my life.” 

While Jelly Roll is closer than ever to reaching the top of the mountain, he still struggles. He battles feelings of unworthiness and insecurities. He battles mental and physical health. Even though he is still on his journey, he can’t believe how much he has helped the community. 

“I spent a lot of years destroying,” he says in the documentary. “I want to spend a lot of future years building.” 

When I watch the film, I feel that Genesis 50:20 is a good representation of Jelly Roll’s life: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” 

Princess Jones is a freelance writer based in North Carolina. Jones was a features editorial assistant at The New York Post and has worked for Religion Unplugged and the New York Amsterdam News. She is an alumna of Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, and of the NYC Semester in Journalism program at The King’s College in New York City.