Blog
Tedium on Waking Protest Songs
The Protest Song Wakes Up A buzzy protest song about the definition of war, timed perfectly to public protests against the Israel–Hamas War, shows that there’s room for social media and protest singers to coexist. Last year, we saw the unlikeliest of pop stars emerge from the backwoods of Virginia with an acoustic-folk turn—a protest song…
Dallas Show Review at KXT
Modern protest singer Jesse Welles blows Dallas away at sold-out Kessler show Jesse Welles is something like a time-traveler. From his 70s-style hair to his poignant songwriting, to his poetic spirit that seems to be timeless—he is connecting people from all walks of life and at every age. Last week, Welles completed his Fear is the Mind…
Battlegound Substack Highlights Jesse’s Folk Songs
A Populist for Progressives Jesse Welles Finds New Life in Folk Songs The stunning success of American folksinger Jesse Welles testifies to the rich afterlife of authenticity. Rather than hammering the last nail into its coffins, as many pundits feared, AI opened the lid. Evidence of this increasingly forceful haunting abounds. Despite the fact that…
WYEP Live & Direct – Jesse Welles Interview
Live & Direct – 91.3 WYEP Tuesday, February 25, 2025 Kyle Smith: We are live and direct today with Jesse Welles, and I’m joined by a whole roof of WYEP members. They’re here on a cloudy, rainy day, and we’re excited because Jesse Welles is here, and we’re going to talk about his new album,…
Under the Powerlines, Saving Country Music
Why Jesse Welles Just Released a 63-Song Album If you need any further illustration of the creative explosion that Jesse Welles has been the catalyst and accelerant for over the last year or so, appreciate that he just released a 63-song album encapsulating a six month time period between April of 2024 to September of…
Vulture – Will the Revolution Start at a Jesse Welles Concert?
Will the Revolution Start at a Jesse Welles Concert? At a sold-out Bowery Ballroom on Friday night, fans were stressed. They had been reading the news. Drowning in it. They’d made a separate group chat to keep the headlines away from the joy. They were watching Maddow and reading the AP for 20 minutes daily before law…
Jesse Welles Receives 2025 John Prine Songwriter Fellowship from Newport Folk
We are thrilled to announce that our 2025 John Prine Songwriter Fellowship recipient will be Jesse Welles. Founded in partnership with John’s family, the Fellowship celebrates the legacy and impact that John had, and continues to have, on the Newport Folk community. Each year, one songwriter who embodies John’s spirit is chosen as the recipient.…
Jesse Welles in New York Times
Jesse Welles, a Folk Musician Who ‘Sings the News,’ Is Turning the Page The 30-year-old known for strumming his guitar to tunes about hot topics is releasing a new album, “Middle,” that avoids current events. In a small home recording studio on a Monday afternoon in January, Jesse Welles sat with a guitar on his…
Middle Promoted by Rolling Stone
Jesse Welles, the Viral Protest Singer, Announces New Album ‘Middle’ The songwriter, who has lambasted topics ranging from American healthcare to capitalism, previews the upcoming LP with the “pro-love song” “Horses” Jesse Welles, the gravelly-voiced songwriter who is reviving protest songs through a series of self-shot videos, will release his new studio album, Middle, next month.…
Patchwork, A Favorite Akransas Times Album of 2024
It’s rare to find a storyteller with the potency of the greats — the Springsteens, Dylans and Prines of the world — but when you hear it, it’s something you recognize immediately. Arkansas singer-songwriter Jesse Welles’ “Patchwork” boasts this authority from the first strum. His refined folk styling blends pop culture, current events and autobiographical trimmings…
Jesse Welles – Musical Vessel – The Pitch Media
Jesse Welles: A Musical Vessel Like No Other “I feel like a vessel for the marijuana,” he said. We’d just roasted a few dabs of hash oil and were hanging out on our second-floor balcony at the Hill Place apartments in Fayetteville, Arkansas. For those unfamiliar, hash oil is a highly concentrated form of THC, likened in…
In Rolling Stone Regarding Healthcare
Jesse Welles Eviscerates UnitedHealthcare in New Protest Song The buzzy songwriter tells the story of corporate healthcare in a John Prine-like ballad Songwriter Jesse Welles has been turning heads with his solo acoustic protest songs about the war in Gaza (“War Isn’t Murder”) and capitalism (“Amazon Santa Claus”), earning a devoted following online and at his sold-out…
Pancakes and Whiskey on Welles’ Joe Dirt Cobain
Welle’s ‘Joe Dirt Cobain’ EP is a Heavy, Guitar-Powered Trip The catchy EPs that Welles has been building solo at home and quietly releasing for free (three now since April) have been major bright spots this year. Carefully constructed yet raw, each one explores a different genre, dishing out surprises that seem designed to put a smile under your…
Pancakes and Whiskey on Welles Q2 EP
Welles’ Quarantine EP Series Brings Another Twist with ‘Q2’ Just eighteen days after he cured our isolation blues with a surprise jazz funk EP called Non-Essential Business, Jesse Wells casually unveiled his “second quarantine EP.” His self-described “country folk americana whatever” release, entitled Q2, includes five feel-good songs that have repeatedly made us grin – whether over the…
Pancakes and Whiskey on Welles’ Non-Essential Business
Welles Unveils Groovy Surprise EP ‘Non-Essential Business’ Knowing Jesse Wells, he probably didn’t realize how much he was making our week. Maybe our whole month, whatever month it is. Right when the world really needed a pick-me-up, Welles unveiled a funky new EP on Bandcamp entitled Non-Essential Business. There was seemingly no advance notice aside from a photo on the…
Chicago Tribune on Jesse Wells of Welles
Wells has rock ’n’ roll history behind him For a ride-or-die rocker like Jesse Wells, the prospect of his beloved genre no longer being the dominant one is hardly reason to worry. “I’ve got all of rock and roll history behind me,” the Arkansas-born singer-guitarist said of forces working on his behalf. “All of it.…
Pancakes and Whiskey, Welles and Rock & Roll
Backstage With Welles: ‘Any Kid Can Make Rock & Roll” Jesse Wells is the coolest paradox. The music of Welles is an intense storm of sound and emotion that steals all your attention, and the guy behind it is almost exactly the opposite – quiet, supremely relaxed, always a few words away from a joke,…
Guitar World and Jesse Wells in 2018
Jesse Wells Talks New Welles Album, ‘Red Trees and White Trashes’ “People pretty up the guitar too much.” Jesse Wells opens up about Welles’ superlative debut album. “People pretty up the guitar too much,” says singer-songwriter-guitarist Jesse Wells. “I kind of fight when I play, and I want people to hear that struggle of my…
Pancakes and Whiskey to Welles Fans
I’ve got suitcases and suitcases and suitcases full of notebooks and computer hard drives full of stuff I can’t even access anymore because it’s too old, you know? I’ve got tunes on floppy drives and stuff,” he laughed, having dipped into a whisper that sounded more humble than secretive. Still addressing his fans, in a…
Pancakes and Whiskey on Welles Debut Red Trees and White Trashes
Wells’ Debut Album ‘Red Trees and White Trashes’ Is A Rock Lover’s Dream “Dust me off like a jar of fire, declare me as your friend. It’s been done before, and we’re doing it now, and I’m sure it’s not the end.” It’s a small remark in the song, but out of context, it defines Welles’…
