What better place to test out a new song than the Grand Ole Opry?
Jelly Roll stepped into the historic circle on Tuesday night, and as he always does, he brought the energy. The Nashville native had the world famous home of country music on the edge of their seats, and treated them to a flurry of his greatest hits.
After an energetic introduction, Jelly Roll walked out on stage and got the crowd fired up. There were clearly a lot of Jelly Roll fans out in the audience as he played “Son of a Sinner,” “Need A Favor,” and closed with an emotional and grateful rendition of “Save Me.”
And right in the middle of his set, the rapper-turned-country-artist decided to surprise those in attendance with a performance of an unreleased song. As he pointed out, it was the first time he had played a new, never-heard-before song since he made his Opry debut. Before the song kicked in, he conversed with the Opry audience, asking:
“I feel like this is a safe place to play a new song, is that okay with y’all? We might not ever release this song.
We’re just gonna play it for y’all and see if it works.”
Jelly Roll and the Grand Ole Opry band then got into a passionate performance of a song that one could assume would be titled “Liar” if it is ever released. And it should be released… immediately, because it just might be some of Jelly Roll’s best work yet.
From the very first note, Jelly commanded the attention of every single person in the room, and had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he worked through the rhythmic pre-chorus of the track:
“Saying drink another whiskey,
Pop another pill,
Money makes you happy,
Heaven isn’t real.
You won’t find nobody to love because your heart’s too broke.
Now I know, you ain’t nothing but a liar,
Yeah I walk right out that fire,
Yeah you try to keep me down,
Try to put me underground,
I know we’re going higher.”
Once he got to the chorus, it was almost as if the Grand Ole Opry crowd had somehow gotten the lyrics in advance. They might not have been singing along, but Jelly Roll somehow made an unfamiliar song a fan favorite as he continued the fiery track (there were flames coming up behind him on the back screens of the stage):
“I can hear you in my head, in my head when I’m dreaming.
You try to be my friend, but you’re blowing smoke.
Oh but now I ain’t scared of telling you where you can go,
Girl I know, you’re nothing but a liar.”
For now, all we have to play over and over again is the video below. But I’ve got to imagine that the positive response to this song will lead Jelly Roll to get a studio version of “Liar” put out sooner rather than later.
Check it out:
