Jelly Roll Brings Live Music to Oregon State Penitentiary for the First Time in 20 Years

Jelly Roll is currently on his 51-city Beautifully Broken Tour. Over the holiday weekend, the tour saw the “Liar” singer in the Pacific Northwest. There, he added an unscheduled stop at the maximum security Oregon State Penitentiary to the tour.

Long before Jelly Roll was one of the hottest names in country music, he was a career criminal who made music on the side. His dream was always to make it in the music business. However, he sold drugs and did other illicit things to make ends meet until his ship came in. As a result, he spent plenty of time behind bars. Now, he never passes up a chance to visit incarcerated people to bring them a little hope.

Jelly Roll Visits OSP

Yesterday (September 3), Jelly Roll took to social media to talk about his visit to Oregon State Penitentiary. The post features several photos of him hanging out with OSP inmates. One photo shows him standing beside a painting of himself done by an inmate.

“My brother Cam Hanes called me a few months back telling me about a trip he had to the Oregon State Penitentiary. I was as excited as he was about it. After we chatted for a minute, he told me that he had an idea that maybe I could come with him next time and sing songs. I told him right then we was going to make it happen,” Jelly Roll wrote in the post.

[RELATED: Jelly Roll’s Masterplan for First Career No. 1 Album Includes an Awesome Act of Philanthropy]

“Yesterday was the first time they let live music on the prison yard of OSP in 20 years. It felt so good bringing a little light to such a dark place. I am a firm believer that if we commit crimes we should do our time and be held accountable for our actions. But I also believe that every human deserves love no matter how bad of a decision they have made,” He explained. “It felt good to love on these guys,” he added. “If one inmate was inspired to do better by my presence yesterday, it was worth my weight in gold to stop by and sing. … It was chicken soup for the soul.”

Jelly Roll concluded the post saying, “I’m sure I speak for Cam and myself when I say we came into that penitentiary hoping to bless people and left feeling blessed.”

Cam Hanes Weighs In

Cameron Hanes, a prominent bow hunter, motivational speaker, and author also posted about their trip to OSP. In a lengthy, vulnerable, and heartfelt post, he talked about why he visits prisons and praised Jelly Roll for doing the same. “An inmate told us that he saw guys smiling as Jell sang that he hadn’t seen smile in 10 years,” Hanes wrote of the impact of Jelly’s presence and music. “Jelly Roll gives the broken hope.”

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