The family who are the focus of one of Jelly Roll’s most heartbreaking scenes 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. The story Clarke and Abby told Taste of Country about how they arrived there was even more heartbreaking yet terrible.
“She said it was like getting to hug my brother again,” Clarke recalled of her mother’s emotional reaction to meeting Jelly Roll for the first time. A cell phone video shared with Taste of Country shows the other women crying as well.
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 Phoenix, Arizona, in March 2021, Brandon Smith, Minia Smith’s son, was fatally shot. The police would take his wife into custody, accuse her of killing him, and release her.
Their daughter, age 14, was present at the time. After that, she remembered hearing gunshots and going into the living room to find her father lying wounded on the floor. In addition, the family dog was 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 was going to the Grand Ole Opry even sooner.
The author recalled, “First I bought front-row tickets (to the Opry), and then I made him a flannel with the words “Mama Tried” on the back.
Before leaving the stage, Jelly Roll picked up the flannel, and the group sort of barnstormed backstage in the hopes that fate would lead them to the singer. It was a success!
According to a report by ABC 15 in Phoenix, Diane Smith has mental health issues, and her husband has a difficult time getting her help. Clarke continues, “Her brother knew that 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.
Since ours was the corner house on the side of the street, she tells Taste of Country, “We had blankets covering our windows. Our backyard was frequently the target of her throws. The fact that I had two young children prevented me from even letting them play in our backyard.
In January 2021, when “Save Me” started playing, Clarke remembered cleaning the house while listening to music on YouTube. As she listened to the lyrics, she stopped moving.
I’ve spent so much time living in hell, Jelly Roll croons, “Somebody save me / Me from myself.”. “.
‘Oh my gosh,’ I was thinking as I stood there. She says, “That sounds exactly like what my brother is trying to say to us.
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 in a video sent to Taste of Country, “We played your song at his funeral. 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.
When their visit is over, Jelly Roll takes Abby and speaks to her directly. His effort and feelings are more obvious in this unedited version of the video. The impact of their story on him is actually quite evident.
According to an old proverb, we are supposedly conquered by the power of our testimony. Jelly Roll, who is distraught, says in a fierce whisper to Abby, “You have a really strong testimony.”.
You’re going to use it in the future to do a lot of good for the world. I hear what you say. You are free to cry whenever you want. Never let someone tell you how to feel during a time of loss. You move slowly. You talk about him every day if that’s what it takes to get by. I guarantee that when you think back on him in the future, you’ll laugh.
It was truly amazing how he said that to me, thinks Abby. It was perfect, and I felt so special. “.
The adolescent seems to be listening intently to what her favorite performer is saying. Despite being soft-spoken and still being under a lot of pressure, she admits that she is happy to reside in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Clarke, her adoptive mother, was just informed of this.
She hugged me and said, “I feel like I have a second chance at life.”.
