Jelly Roll Performs Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” For Inmates In His Former Prison Cell Block
Jelly Roll has been incredibly open about his rough past. The “Need a Favor” singer fell in with the wrong crowd at a young age, and found himself in a juvenile detention center.
Years later (in 2022), Jelly Roll donated every dollar from his sold-out show at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena to that juvenile detention center. In a video on social media, he said:
“We’re giving every dollar from that show to Impact Youth Outreach, with Robert Sherill and Dr. Tracy, and we are building music programs inside of the same juvenile center that I was incarcerated in whenever I was a youth.”
When Jelly Roll was older, he ended up in prison for a time. Back in January of this year (2023), he returned to that prison to perform for the inmates in his former cell block.
Jelly Roll, Brantley Gilbert, and Struggle Jennings Visit Prison Where Jelly Served Time
Brantley Gilbert and Struggle Jennings (Waylon Jennings‘ grandson) joined Jelly Roll on his trip to the prison where he served time. The three singers performed for the inmates there.
During their visit, Jelly Roll took the opportunity to perform what is perhaps the most well-known country prison song…Johnny Cash‘s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
The song includes lyrics such as, “And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when. I’m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin’ on. But that train keeps a rollin’ on down to San Antone…”