Ozark, AR · folk · protest

Jesse Welles

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The internet's protest-folk bard — a new topical song every week, Dylan-grade wit aimed at whatever the news cycle just did.

Jesse Welles, born Jesse Allen Breckenridge Wells in Ozark, Arkansas, picked up guitar around age eleven after getting one from Walmart. An older neighbor taught him chords and older songs, and as a teenager he sold home-recorded CDs locally. He points to the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Nirvana as early influences, alongside country and Motown records he grew up on.

Before performing as Jesse Welles, he recorded as Jeh Sea Wells and fronted the bands Dead Indian, formed in 2012, and Cosmic-American, formed in 2015. He moved to Nashville that year to record with producer Dave Cobb, and released his debut studio album, Red Trees and White Trashes, in 2018 under the name Welles.

He had been making music for years in other styles before the topical songs found an audience. Starting in 2024 he began writing songs about the week's news, addressing subjects like healthcare costs, immigration enforcement and the war in Gaza in tracks such as "The Poor," "United Health" and "War Isn't Murder," posted several times a week.

The songs, usually performed solo with guitar and harmonica in a talking-blues and protest-folk style, drew comparisons to Woody Guthrie. In 2026 the attention translated into four nominations at the Grammy Awards.

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