Behind the Prison Music

Before they were wards of the state, Neal, Jamal, and Cupcake were twenty-somethings criss-crossing the south in traveling cover bands. That was before felony convictions for armed robbery landed them at Powhatan on extraordinarily long sentences.

Having grown up under segregation, they now found themselves in a disproportionately Black national prison population–one that would double in size before the last of them got out. The prison music program gave them incentive to start writing songs of their own.

But where, under such dark circumstances, did they draw inspiration to start putting pen to paper? Jamal reveals some painful family secrets, Neal talks about love lost to prison, and Cupcake talks about love found behind bars.

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