Jelly Roll has had himself a hell of a year, and though he just wrapped up his massive Backroad Baptism Tour arena and amphitheater tour, he still has a couple of things left to do.
The rapper-turned-country-star went on the road after the release of his highly anticipated Whitsitt Chapel album back in June, and as he’s often done in his career, he was pedal to the metal the entire time.
Now that he’s wrapped up his tour, Jelly Roll is finally taking time to slow things down, and he took to his social media to show his appreciation, as well as make a couple of announcements:
“Just finished headlining my first amphitheater and arena tour. 80 days averaging 5 shows a week (and) 3 national TV appearances in the middle of it.
We also visited over 10 jails or juveniles and over 4 rehabs and a few homeless shelters spreading the love. Live Nation and us also agreed to give ONE DOLLAR a ticket to charity raised another 590k for local at risk youth. I never even dreamed this would be possible.”
Jelly Roll, who has been incarcerated in the past, will always have a soft spot for those that are in jail and those who are less fortunate.
He knows what’s its like to be there, and even now that’s he riding high, he won’t ever forget to help those people in places he used to be himself. Raising almost $600,000 for at-risk youth is an unbelievable achievement, and will certainly help and inspire the younger generation.
Jelly continued by speaking on how much it meant to see fans connecting to the music he has brought to life:
“My gratitude is at all time high. I got emotional every night on stage – seeing the impact of these songs. Seeing people laughing, dancing, (and) crying together was something I’ll never forget. Over 50 cities were impacted by the “Backroad Baptism Tour.”
To be completely candid, when I started writing songs when I was a kid, I did it as a means of therapy and way of connection. I never in my wildest imagination would’ve thought that it could’ve ended up in arenas.”
Music has clearly helped Jelly Roll throughout his life, and I’m sure that’s a remarkable, full-circle moment for him to see that the music he is creating and sharing is having the same impact on his fans.
He concluded his heartfelt post with a couple of things he learned along the tour, and what fans can expect from him in the near future:
“I’m learning to be fearless and dream bigger, because my plans were small compared to the plans God had for me. I am home and fighting a cold, the road ran me down pretty bad this time.
I’m going to get rid of my phone again and go phone-less for the rest of the year to focus on family and try to be as present as possible for my family.
I’ll be posting when I can from the iPad or my wife’s phone. Thank y’all for the most incredible tour…now let’s focus on creating the biggest toy drive in Nashville history. Stay tuned for details coming soon… Love y’all – ALWAYS.”
You can view the post from Jelly Roll below:
Oh, and Jelly Roll absolutely brought house down in the finale to the Backroad Baptism Tour with this fiery (literally) performance of “Save Me.”
Take a look:
