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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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, 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 […]

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. […]

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: 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 […]