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The power of the protest song With everything that’s going on in the world I’ve been thinking about the power behind people’s right to protest — and the equally powerful strength of a protest song. Music and protest go hand in hand, whether it’s Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday or more recent acts like Green Day, Rage Against The Machine or Jesse Welles. Bruce Springsteen […]

At music’s biggest night, we had an Ozark native nominated for 4 Grammys. Jesse Wells was in the running for categories like Best Folk Album and Best Americana Album. We spoke with friends and family at a watch party for him today who say Proud doesn’t even begin to cover it. Yes. Friends and family […]

I want to know what makes you react. How are you able to do these songs so quickly? And what gives you that spark to react and do these viral songs? Uh, I see it go down just about like everybody else. And, uh, I suppose I’m in a hurry, so that that makes it […]

What do you enjoy about this whole experience? Uh the it’s a great shade of red, the carpet. Yeah, I think that’s wonderful. Yeah. What’s keeping you optimistic in 2026? The innate feeling of a duty to be optimistic and to have faith in the future. I think it’s the responsibility of artists not to […]

Hey, how’s it going? Firstly, can you introduce yourself on camera and say what you’re nominated for? Of course. My name is Jesse Welles, and uh, honestly, I got four nominations, but I I don’t know what they are, so… I can tell you. Okay. Best Folk Album, best Americana album, best Americana root song, […]

Protest songs have long been a force in pop culture, and now they’re making a comeback, thanks in part to singer songwriter Jesse Wells. With Robert Costa, we take note. The story of America can be told through the lyrics of folk music. As folk singer Pete Seager put it, “A song isn’t a speech. […]

Review: Jesse Welles has brought back protest music and he doesn’t care who he hurls rocks at. One of social media’s biggest new talents has dropped into town and he’s got a few bones to pick with everyone. If you haven’t come across Jesse Welles yet, chances your social media algorithm is mostly skewed towards funny pet videos and homewares “hacks”.

Grammys aside, name an award or honor you’ve won that means the most to you. I won a race in my hometown. A foot race. It was a 10k in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, and I did it last year, around the time I was writing these albums. I spent years abusing my body with drugs, […]

Jesse Welles: A Folksinger for Our Time For centuries, folk music has simply and clearly expressed the lived truths of everyday people, from troubadours in the Middle Ages to gospel songs among slaves in America. In the 1930s and 1940s, it was Woody Guthrie who railed against European fascists and Dust Bowl disasters. In the […]

Jesse Receives the Bram Stoker Medal for Outstanding Cultural Achievement from The University Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The Phil is honoured to present Jesse Welles with the Bram Stoker Medal for Outstanding Cultural Achievement. Jesse Welles is an American singer-songwriter, known for his raw vocal delivery, socially charged lyrics and stripped-back performances […]