Producer Zach Crowell on the ‘Theme Throughout Jelly Roll’s Music’ — And Why ‘Heart of Stone’ Strikes a Chord

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The Beautifully Broken single reaches a caller No. 53 precocious successful its seventh week connected the Billboard Hot 100.

Zach Crowell and Jelly Roll person been friends agelong earlier either 1 of them became state powerhouses — Crowell arsenic a Grammy-nominated shaper and songwriter and Jelly Roll arsenic 1 of the astir compelling and palmy artists to look successful the genre implicit the past fewer years.

“In the existent euphony business, Jelly mightiness beryllium the idiosyncratic I’ve known the longest,” Crowell, 44, tells Billboard. “I started retired making rap euphony successful the mid-2000s astir Nashville. I’m calved and raised successful Nashville, and truthful is Jelly. Jelly was conscionable a rapper who utilized to bargain beats and workplace clip from maine backmost successful the day.”

By the clip Jelly Roll shifted to state music, Crowell was already an established hitmaker, having written and/or produced songs for artists including Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt, Luke Bryan and Keith Urban. He co-produced overmuch of Jelly Roll’s breakthrough state album, 2023’s Whitsitt Chapel, and past produced the bulk of follow-up Beautifully Broken successful 2024 — featuring “Heart of Stone” from the second set, which becomes yet different No. 1 deed connected Billboard‘s Country Airplay illustration and reaches a caller No. 53 precocious connected the Billboard Hot 100 connected charts dated Oct. 11.

Below, Crowell reflects connected crafting the thumping, emotionally charged single, from the signaling process to the biggest challenges on the way.

You co-wrote “Heart of Stone” with Jelly Roll, Blake Pendergrass and Shy Carter. How did it happen?

There were a mates of penning camps; we rented a location conscionable extracurricular of [Nashville]. There’s 3 oregon 4 producers successful assorted rooms, and successful each, 3 oregon 4 writers with them. You bash that for a mates of days, and Jelly bounces from country to room. I had made a small track: a chord progression and a drum loop and sang a small spot of a melody and a lyrical idea. It was conscionable 1 of the ideas that I brought into the campy — a batch of times you effort to beryllium strategical astir what rooms you bring it to. Some combinations of writers are amended for definite ideas. When I pitched that idea, they loved it. I’m beauteous definite we finished it that day.

How did you get the code close for the track? Were determination a batch of takes?

Most deed Nashville songs I’ve recorded with bands successful studios, but that I did successful pieces. I initially made the basal track, past I brought [in] guitar subordinate Nathan Keeterle. At that point, it’s inactive a demo. Once it made the chopped for the album, I realized it needed unrecorded drums, truthful I took it to Aaron Sterling. We thought it’d beryllium chill to person unrecorded strings — David Davidson enactment unneurotic a drawstring section. It was pieced together, which was inspiring. Sometimes it tin get stale erstwhile you’re signaling a set successful the workplace and everyone’s playing astatine the aforesaid time. This made it a small spot fresher.

The opus blends the spiritual and the secular and successful galore ways is simply a prayer.

One 100 percent and that’s the marque of Jelly, the happening that helium established. That goes arsenic acold backmost arsenic the rap euphony helium utilized to marque backmost successful the day. He was ever successful that world, blending supplication with euphony and anticipation and pain. Jelly’s euphony is not [for] the enactment guy. That’s conscionable ne'er truly been his happening erstwhile it comes to music. When you person the thought of a bosom of stone, it’s past conscionable down to Jelly to bash his thing, which is speech astir his struggles and crook it into a opus of redemption. This is simply a taxable passim Jelly Roll’s euphony forever. I deliberation helium nailed it connected that one.