When barbecue turns into a hit song… Ernest recently returned to the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast, and the Nashville-based artist and songwriter had a story and anecdote for just about everything. He spoke to us about how rewarding it is to give joy to others through music, why he’s passionate about giving back to the Nashville music community, working with artists like Jelly Roll (and non-artists like Pat McAfee), and the responsibility he felt producing a Toby Keith demo after the country legend’s death. Ernest also had quite the story about how a food run turned into one of Jelly Roll’s biggest songs. The prolific songwriter was talking about how hit songs come to be (like “I Had Some Help), and whether or not artists and songwriters know they are crafting a No. 1 track while they are in the middle of creating it. Often times, the writers and artists in the room do have a good idea of when they catch lightning in a bottle. Ernest has over 10 No. 1’s as a writer, so he’s familiar with the feeling. And the songwriter told us one of the times he knew a hit song was in the making, it was a completely unexpected write. In fact, it was a trip to get some barbecue that led to a run in with Jelly Roll: “Another one I’m proud of is ‘Son of a Sinner’ with Jelly Roll. When we wrote that song, I think it was in 2020 and I was going to pick up barbecue at Martin’s. Jelly Roll was at the Sound Emporium next door. I just knew that because I saw his truck when I was going to Martin’s. I just walked into the studio so we could burn down while I waited on my barbecue. And he was like,’ Yo, let’s write something real quick.’ I picked up a guitar and I put it in Drop D and started playing that (song’s) lick.” Immediately, Jelly Roll and Ernest knew something was there. The two artists had actually been looking for a worthy song that could help launch Jelly Roll’s country music career. Sure enough, they stumbled upon it in one of the more random, barbecue-adjacent ways possible: “We had talked previously about him needing a country radio song. Right then, the thing that was popping for him was the ‘Save Me’ record and the YouTube video was going crazy. We just started spitting stuff out and the ‘Son of a Sinner’ verse and chorus came out in like 15 or 20 minutes. (We had) kind of a blueprint for the second verse, but I was like, ‘I gotta go.’ Took the barbecue and he sent me the demo at 1:00 in the morning.” Ernest went on to produce the song for Jelly Roll, who said he thought it could be his first country single… and he was right. “Son of a Sinner” connected with listeners, and Ernest and Jelly had a feeling that would likely be the case from the very first moment a string on that Drop D guitar was strummed. Once the real vocals were put on the track, Ernest knew it was destined to be big: “The night I wrote it, I didn’t know what would happen. I thought it was an awesome song. Once we did the record and heard Jelly’s vocal on it for real, I was like, ‘This could be a thing.’ And it was. The rest is Jelly Roll history.” @whiskeyriff @Ernest #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ Son Of A Sinner – Jelly Roll The song ended up charting as high as 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 list, and even reached the No. 1 spot on the US Country Airplay chart. Most importantly, it acted as Jelly Roll’s official entry into country music… and obviously with his latest Grammy win, that’s gone rather well for the rapper-turned-country-artist. To hear more from Ernest, make sure to download the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or click here. We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts. Cheers, y’all. Audio Video The post How Ernest’s Barbecue Run Turned Into Jelly Roll’s First #1 At Country Radio, “Son Of A Sinner” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.