Jelly Roll Sued By Philadelphia Wedding Band Jellyroll
Jason DeFord, the face-tatted Nashville musician known as Jelly Roll, has been using that name professionally for more than 20 years. Using the nickname that his mother gave him as a child, Jelly Roll started off as a Southern mixtape rapper before transitioning into a hybridized form of Southern rock and, finally, into mainstream country, where he’s become a full-on star. In the past year, Jelly Roll has scored a top-20 pop hit, won a bunch of country awards, been nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy, and toured arenas. He has also incurred the legal wrath of a Philadelphia wedding band called Jellyroll.
As Billboard reports, Philadelphia musician Kurt Titchenell claims that he’s been running a band called Jellyroll since 1980. This Jellyroll calls itself “Philadelphia’s favorite wedding band,” but the prominence of a different Jelly Roll has allegedly been threatening its business. In a statement posted on Instagram a few months ago, the Philly Jellyroll attempted to clarify things:
JELLYROLL®, the original Philadelphia Horn Party Band, is busier than ever performing at the region’s most sophisticated luxury weddings and high end events, including the upcoming Philadelphia Auto Show Black Tie Tailgate Preview Gala, recent Army Navy Galas, and even two events at The White House.
We have become aware of, and you may have heard of, another ‘Jelly Roll’, who has recently gained some fame in the country music scene – Jason DeFord, the Nashville area crossover singer songwriter. It’s imperative that we avoid confusion for our band that has been performing as JELLYROLL® for over 40 years.
Therefore, we have an obligation to inform the public that Mr. DeFord performing as “Jelly Roll” is misleading, and an infringement on our band’s JELLYROLL® trademark. We have run into issues with our social media accounts, search engine optimization, Google Ads, as well as overall brand recognition. The related promotion of his performance at the popular local Philadelphia Jingle Ball has caused confusion within our fan base resulting in multiple inquiries requesting information on the event. This is to clarify that the original JELLYROLL® is not part of this event.
Unfortunately, that Instagram post apparently wasn’t enough to clear things up. As Billboard reports, Jellyroll’s have filed a federal lawsuit against Jelly Roll, claiming that the existence of this other Jelly Roll has hurt the wedding band’s search results:
Prior to the defendant’s recent rise in notoriety, a search of the name of Jellyroll… returned references to the plaintiff. Now, any such search on Google returns multiple references to defendant, perhaps as many as 18-20 references, before any reference to plaintiff’s entertainment dance band known as Jellyroll can be found.
The band’s lawyer claims that he sent a cease-and-desist letter to Jelly Roll, which led to “several conversations” but no resolution. At one point, Jelly Roll’s representatives asked whether the two acts were really in competition with one another, which seems to have offended the wedding band. Now, the band wants a court order that would stop the other Jelly Roll from using that name at events like an upcoming show at Philly’s Wells Fargo Center.
UPDATE 8/9: Jellyroll (one word) has dropped their lawsuit…
