Folksinger For Our Time

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 1950s, Pete Seeger took on McCarthyism and the civil rights movement. The 1960s brought us Bob Dylan, who had, um, “thoughts” about the Vietnam War.

In the late ’70s, folk music evolved into punk, as artists like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Billy Bragg laid bare the punishing failures of the Thatcher era in Britain. At home, those trapped in the gritty urban scene expressed everyday rage through rap. In the 80s, John Mellencamp told stories of people in the heartland going through cruel farm foreclosures. The artist currently using a guitar, harmonica, and sharp observational wit to document our era is Jesse Welles.

Born in the Ozarks region of Arkansas in 1992, Welles is old enough to have seen some things. He admits to being heavily influenced by 19th-century American writers, including Mark Twain and Walt Whitman. As a millennial, he’s used technology to DIY an astonishing number of albums (4 alone in 2025). His viral videos on YouTube are stripped down, just him standing in an open field.

[United Health]

The refreshingly basic setup lets his music and lyrics speak for themselves. The first time I saw Welles was on Stephen Colbert’s late-night show. My first reaction was that he looked like 80s Mellencamp, with a Dylan/Seeger/Neil Young vibe, and a touch of the cheek that Country Joe served up at Woodstock. We haven’t seen that kind of tart, targeted observation in a long time.

Welles is exceptionally prolific, cranking out topical songs at an astonishing pace. He’s sung about the 2024 shooting of the United Healthcare exec, about weed, poverty, war, Walmart’s hold on rural America, and even Ozempic. The two songs performed on Colbert included a biting parody of masked ICE agents:

[Join ICE on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]

His final song that night was a poignant look at the toxic tribalism we’re currently living through.

[Red on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert]

In 2025 alone, Welles performed at Farm Aid, with folk icon Joan Baez at the Fillmore, and on Jimmy Kimmel and Joe Rogan’s shows. He’s nominated for the upcoming Grammys in both the “Americana” and “Roots” categories. In short, Jesse Welles is blowing up.

“Folk music” may seem like it’s for Another Time, but it’s clear there’s always a need for stripped-down storytellers. In this age of Tech Bros, oligarch excess, and AI, Jesse Welles reflects the human impact of the 21st-century world on everyday folks. He’s a bard for a complicated era.

Cindy Grogan
https://www.culturesonar.com/jesse-welles-a-folksinger-for-our-time/