The family who are the focus of one of Jelly Roll’s most moving sequences have opened up about their relationship with the singer and what first drew them to him and his music.
Last fall, when Chanel Clarke, her mother Minia Smith, and Smith’s 16-year-old granddaughter Abby found their way backstage at the Grand Ole Opry, they didn’t take long to break down in tears.
You can watch Jelly Roll: Save Me, which featured this sequence, on Hulu. Clarke and Abby’s account of how they got there was shared with Taste of Country, which made it even more moving but terrible.
According to Clarke’s account of her mother’s emotional first meeting with Jelly Roll, “she said it was like getting to hug my brother again.”. A cell phone video that was shared with Taste of Country also shows the other women crying.
The story behind this scene from @JellyRoll615’s new documentary is even more powerful.
— Taste of Country (@TasteOfCountry) June 19, 2023
EXCLUSIVE interview with the family 👉 https://t.co/WvnRhkIDE8 pic.twitter.com/qudNIOUuy0
In March 2021, Minia Smith’s son Brandon Smith was fatally shot inside his Phoenix home. Police would take his wife into custody and accuse her of killing him.
Their daughter, who was 14 at the time, was at home. She remembered hearing gunshots, going into the living room, and finding her father lying wounded on the floor. The family dog was also shot.
The couple’s daughter is called Abby. She and Clarke moved to Tennessee to start a new life after that. When the family learned that Jelly Roll would be performing at Bridgestone Arena last October, they bought tickets. Later, they found out he would be performing even sooner at the Grand Ole Opry.
The author recalled, “I made him a flannel with the words “Mama Tried” on the back after first purchasing front-row tickets (to the Opry).
In an attempt to find the vocalist before they left the stage, the gang sort of barnstormed backstage after Jelly Roll picked up the flannel. It was effective.
ABC 15 in Phoenix’s report on Diane Smith’s mental health problems and her husband’s struggles to get her help goes into detail. Clarke continues, “Her brother knew his life was in danger. Everyone feared his wife of 13 years in the three months before his death, but he refused to leave because he couldn’t do it without his daughter.
She tells Taste of Country, “We had blankets covering our windows because ours was the corner house on the side of the street. She frequently threw items in our backyard. Because I had two young children, I wouldn’t even allow them to play in our backyard.
Clarke remembered cleaning the house while listening to music on YouTube when “Save Me” started playing in January 2021. As she listened to the lyrics, she halted her movement.
I’ve spent so much time living in hell, Jelly Roll croons, “Somebody save me / Me from myself.”. “.
I simply stood there and thought, “Oh my gosh. That sounds exactly like what my brother is attempting to say to us, she says.
It was similar to the impact of Jelly Roll’s “Glitter.”. Now that he is gone, these words have a much greater significance.
Minia Smith says to Jelly Roll, “We played your song at his funeral,” in a video that she sends to Taste of Country. She is crying as she tells the hitmaker their story, and when the camera on her cell phone pans up, he is visibly moved to tears.
After their visit, Jelly Roll takes Abby and speaks to her directly. He makes a greater effort and displays more emotion in this unedited version of the video. The impact of their story on him is actually quite evident.
There’s an old saying that says the power of our testimony will overcome us. Jelly Roll is inconsolable, and he whispers angrily to Abby, “You have a really strong testimony.”.
And one day, you’re going to use it to do a lot of good for the world. You are audible to me. You are free to cry about it whenever you want. Never let someone tell you how to grieve. You move slowly. You discuss him every day if that’s what you need to do to survive. You will laugh one day when you think of him, I guarantee it.
The way he said that to me was truly amazing, thinks Abby. I was so impressed with myself, and everything was just perfect. “.
The adolescent seems to be listening intently to what her favorite performer is saying. She acknowledges that despite being soft-spoken and still being under a lot of pressure, she is happy to reside in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. She just recently told her adoptive mother, Clarke, about this.
She hugged me and said, “I feel like I have a second chance at life.”.
