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, middle, and, uh, Jesse, would you like to start us off with the song?

Jesse Welles: Yeah, absolutely. It’s called horses.

~Horses~

Kyle: Well, that’s quite an introduction to Jesse Welles. Jesse, Welcome to Pittsburgh, I guess. Welcome back to Pittsburgh. You’ve been here before.

Jesse: Yeah, I love it here.

Kyle: You’ve toured before. And, uh, it didn’t all just start with this song that I heard for the very first time about three weeks ago and had to listen to that over and over again, Horses is on your new album called the Middle. Would you like to give us a little background about, uh, where you’ve grown up, because I know you grew up in Arkansas, and uh, give us a little bit of? Uh, the road of of how you got here.

Jesse: Yeah. I grew up in Ozark, Arkansas. And I just I did everything that you do in a town like that. Had a couple jobs. Like the grocery store, the Chinese restaurant, a radio station, and cut down trees for a guy, too. And I played football and I was in the school band. And, uh. But, you know, uh, so I listened to a lot of public radio and I went to a lot of a lot of public libraries and stuff and got a hold of some of the music that you wouldn’t typically get a hold of there. So, you know,

Kyle: I would imagine that would include a few of the Troubadours that perhaps

Jesse: Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, I had encyclopedia and Carter CD that you put into the, you know, CD-ROM? You put it in there, and they had, like, little samples of. Lightning Hopkins, and little samples of Pete Seeger. You could listen to and those samples of Woody, I got, I’d spin. That was, like little 20 second samples over and over again.

Kyle: Well, the song, uh, that you just did. Horses is the first single from the new album called the middle, which is out, and you’re inside. You just decided to put it out on your own, and we’ll talk about the album a little bit, uh, later. But, uh, what do you think, uh, LED you to writing some songs to deal with, uh, society, and maybe even a little bit of foreign policy, but that’s not really about, uh, about love, really?

Jesse: Why tune about about the love? Yeah. You, this probably about the only the only thing that’s going to bring anybody together. You can’t really. You can’t take out hate with hate or anything like that and? I don’t know, I reckon. When you deal in so much, politically, you know, political notions and stuff like that you start looking for for a cure or a way out or whatever you find pretty quick, can’t like, Stamp Out hate with hate, or uh, or anything like that. So, it’s, you know, it’s just a love tune, you know?

Kyle: I think you also referenced that in a couple of other songs on the album, including Certain, uh, there’s a there’s a few lines in that song as well, but could you give us a little bit of insight into your career so far because this just didn’t happen overnight? We’ll talk about the viral nature of social media and your presence there in a little bit and how you built the following. But, you’ve toured a lot in the past, and you’ve been writing songs for, uh, well over, uh, 15 years. Since you were very young, but can you give us a little insight on you? The background from from going to Arkansas because you toured in a band for quite a while, yeah.

Jesse: I just think some people have like a motorcycle, or a Doberman or a tattoo, and I just I always had a rock band. And I thought that that was a cool thing to have. And um? You know, I just I wanted to play rock and roll music and, so I did and I saw folks where other folks were out in the woods playing songs. I thought, I can do that. And this is a little less overhead so.

Kyle: Yes, it was, yeah. Did you return to Arkansas after touring then in the? Is that what he decided to, uh, kind of, hone your craft with, uh, some uh little pointed songs I had Society.

Jesse: Yeah, I came home in ’21, I had been gone since, like ’15 or something or something like that. I was going to- I was gonna stop playing music. And I was just going to, I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do, but I was gonna quit playing music because I was kind of burnt out on it. Honestly, I wasn’t really honing anything, but just running and reading a lot and I think holding it down for about two years, and then my old man had a heart attack, and I thought well, you know, life is pretty short, and then all the tunes just kind of started coming. You know, around February of ’24, I just started writing tunes all the time, you know. And now, we’re here. Now, we’re up to this, you know?

Kyle: Okay, so, so a lot of the songs have been written in this last year, and you just put this record out last Friday. It came out for the first time. It’s called the middle, and um. Why don’t we hear a couple more songs from it? Then we’ll talk a little bit about your social media presence and a little bit more about the record. Okay, but uh, Jesse Welles is here. He’s in town for a sold out show tonight. In fact, his tour one on sale, and it sold out within a day of 25 dates, and so he’s playing the Thunderbird tonight. He’s doing solo stuff. He also has a band here tonight, and, we’re lucky to have you here. Jesse, so if you play a couple more songs for us. I’d rather everybody be pretty happy.

Jesse: Yeah.

~ Wheel ~

Kyle: We are live and direct with Jesse Welles in our WYEP Studios.

~ Middle ~

Kyle: 91.3 WYEP, We are live and direct with Jesse Welles first time with Jesse Welles in our Studios, and that was the title track to Middle, which has just come out. As of this last Friday and also heard the song Wheel. Jesse, thanks a lot for, uh, for being here today again, and this is really a treat. I didn’t really realize until hearing that song horses. I didn’t really realize, the background that you built in your followers that you had built over the last year by making some. He referenced it a while ago, basically singing songs in nature. But, uh, kind of ripping things from the headlines. What gave you the idea to get up nature and sing about, uh, Hot Topics, uh, like healthcare and United Health, and Walmart and war isn’t murder?

Jesse: Um. I’m kind of about people not dying. If we can help it. So, as far as reasons, that’s my reason.

With regards to the woods, I was out there already, so, it was just a matter of putting a camera up, and doing it there. Yeah.

Kyle: But did you have any idea about, um, the positivity you’d feel and the followers that? Would that would happen?

Jesse: No, you can’t know. I figured. Nothing brings people together like making fun of someone. And I figured, that’s what would be, you know, best case scenario you get made fun of? But something else has happened. No, you can’t know. You can’t know what’s gonna pop off?

Kyle: Well, now you’ve got an album that is, is flushed out and produced. You’ve got, uh, band members on it, and some and some guests and things. Let’s talk a little bit about Middle, and it’s the first album for you under your own name. So, I guess your proper debut? You started to write these songs back into February, but you know, there aren’t a lot of references direct references to headlines on the new album, um, I mean, there are some mentions of things, but, was that a conscious choice?

Jesse: I usually I have a few songs going at once and. Kind of like having a few things on on the burners of a stove or whatever you know, and I would always. Go by and and drop the line into one, or drop something into another and as. As they get done, start a new one and then finish the one that was next up in line. But I like to have them all, you know, some of them will be topical tunes and then some of them are a bit more self-indulgent. What you’re, you know, these Tunes? These are the songs that I like to write, myself, and and people who, I reckon, who crave who crave the same, the same sorts of things, Lyrically and and harmonically. So, these are a big risk tunes, you know?

Kyle: Yeah, I had heard. The cover that you did with the members of Mount Joy? Of the CCR tune, who will stop the rain? That’s where I first heard your voice, and that was a unique voice. So I hadn’t really gotten. Viral moments and and the stuff that’s happened, uh, in social media and stuff before, but um. Imagine you made some of those connections while touring and making musical friends on the road before, but you worked at the pretty Top Line producer right now, who’s worked with Sierra Farrell and Zach Bryan, and how did that flush out your sound or bring out the sound of the album, Middle?

Jesse: Ed. I met Ed about a hundred years ago. He was Engineering for Cobb when I did my first rock and roll record. That was with Welles, and he and I have just been real good pals ever since, and he’s very much a producer in his own right, right? As you, as you noted. I would send him a big list of tunes, and he listened to them, and he would tell me the ones that he was excited about. And I would say, okay, we’re not doing any of those. And, uh, then, really, it’s a matter of- He helped me put a band together for the studio, and then we go in and we play the tracks live. We would take the best takes and and go ahead and roll with that. He offers a lot harmonically, and arrangement wise and melodically, too. He is very much a real producer, you know of music, and and he could take something and say, well, this has 20 verses and no one’s going to listen to it. But we like the melodies, um, so can we pick your three favorite, you know, and stick with those. So, he helps me organize my thoughts to something to some extent.

Kyle: Well, you’re just getting started on the road. You’ve got a, but another 20 shows or so ahead of you. You’ve gotten accolades from Dave Matthews is saying he’s you’re the best songwriter he’s ever heard, which is pretty amazing.

Jesse: Love Dave, yeah.

Kyle: And we like him, too. He’s been around a long time. And, uh, and from what I understand, you’re gonna be playing Newport Folk Festival, uh, this year as well. Congratulations.

Jesse: Thanks.

Kyle: Well, uh, we would love it if you would share another song with us before we send you off into the dark cold afternoon here in Pittsburgh before your show here at the Thunderbird tonight in Pittsburgh. And we get more songs from you. Absolutely!

Jesse: This is called fear is a mind killer.

~Fear is a Mind Killer~

Jesse: Thanks again for coming folks.

Kyle: Fear is a mind killer. That’s the song from Middle from Jesse Welles who is here in our studio today. Live and direct for the very first time, Jesse. Congratulations on everything so far, and best of luck with the 25-city-tour and at the show tonight. The sold-out show happening at the Thunderbird Cafe this evening, but uh, hope to see you down the road.

Jesse: Can’t wait to see you again.

Kyle: All right, Jesse!