In a matter of weeks, Jesse Welles has blown up. Recently featured in the New York Times and Rolling Stone, he’s just been named the 2025 recipient of the prestigious John Prine Songwriter Fellowship, earning himself an invite to this coming summer’s Newport Folk Festival.
A remarkably talented visionary and wordsmith — a poet, really — Welles over the weekend put out latest self-released studio album, Middle, the third he’s released in eight months’ time. He’s been out on tour as well, selling out clubs all month as his profile has skyrocketed along the way.
The Arkansas native recently packed The Atlantis in DC, absolutely delighting a sold-out audience in solo fashion before being joined by his touring band for a separate batch of songs pulled mostly from the new record.
Listen to the new record from Jesse Welles, Middle, via Spotify:
Met with fanatical cheers after every tune at The Atlantis on Feb. 19, the rising star showed that he’s all he’s cracked up to be — perceptive, thoughtful, a little squirrelly, and impossibly lovable under a thick head of strawberry hair.
“What’s good? Good to see ya,” he moseyed out onto the stage and was at the mic before some even realized it.
Playing his acoustic guitar and the harmonica wrapped around his neck, he offered up some of the endearing ditties that have rapidly made him a sensation.
With tracks like “Fat” from his 21-track July 2024 album Hells Welles and “Walmart” from Patchwork, a record released only a couple months later, he showed his knack for weaving words — even if harsh or cutting or graphic — into wildly amusing verses that don’t just sound good to the ear but provoke thought, too.
As he moved into the likes of “Fentanyl” and “Cancer,” both from the monstrous Hells Welles, it became clear that everyone in the room was familiar with his music and his personality, and some were ecstatic to simply be in his presence.
Welles has written all kinds of songs and previously been in bands — one group was called Dead Indian, another was Cosmic-American. But as a singular artist he’s now showcasing a gift for putting an entertaining twist on loss and suffering with striking, clairvoyant lyrics that protest American politics and big business. His popular song “United Health” was released in the wake of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder.
Rising to fame with the use of social media platforms, he’s become adored by many, his voice relatable to just about anyone from the rural parts of this country.
As he told the New York Times, the immediate, and largely positive, feedback he received from followers — 1.2 million on TikTok, another million on Instagram — has encouraged him to embrace his simple style and approach. Though he’s previously used the name Jeh Sea Wells and went by just Welles in the past, he now seems settled on the Jesse Welles moniker.
The 30-year-old’s influenced by and brings to mind some of the celebrated figures in folk music — Guthrie, Dylan, Prine — but his appeal is its own kind of pitiful, a different breed of silly.
“It’s good to be back in DC. It’s like my hometown,” he joshed last week. “You ain’t gotta be quiet for me, either. I ain’t thinkin’ about nothin’. And if you know it, you probably know it better than me.”
Listen to Jesse Welles’ 21-track 2024 album, Hells Welles, via Spotify:
All night, fans recited Welles’ lyrics along with him. But participation might have peaked during “Bugs,” a heartfelt, genius plea for insects, and one that had even the most senior attendees singing along like little kids.
“Us old folks love you, Jesse,” a kind voice offered at one point in the night.
With a “gee whiz” here and a “huh” there, he cracked up the room and even directly engaged with his backwoods humor. Drawing laughs with what sounded like digs at himself, Welles seemed humble in the midst of so much attention.
And though he let his songs do his political speaking, he did bring up RFK Jr.
“His team called and said do I want to play a rally, then they asked me what airline I flew.”
Wide eyes conveyed his bewilderment.
“NO,” he was emphatic. “I got bad luck as it is.”
Watch Jesse Welles perform his song “Bugs” live via his YouTube channel:
Backed by Joel Parks on bass and Connor Streeter on drums, Jesse amplified his sound to present new material from Middle across what was essentially a second set and included the second cover of the night, Welles’ take on “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
But he wrapped it up with a song he’s recorded twice, “Fear is the Mind Killer,” an irrepressible psych-rock outburst that showcases his rouse and range as a vocalist and his might as a songwriter.
Returning to encore, Welles treated The Atlantis to two of his most stirring cuts — “This Is Not My Song” and the facetious “War Isn’t Murder.” After nearly two hours of music, he’d convinced that his soul is bright, his music extraordinary and the attention coming his way is most certainly deserved.
Setlist
(Acoustic solo)
Fat
Walmart
Fentanyl
Slaves
Cancer
Whistle Boeing
The Poor
See Arkansas
That Can’t Be Right
New Moon
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan)
Saint Steve Irwin
Let It Be Me
Gilgamesh
Bugs
Middle
(With band)
Anything But Me
Horses
I’m Sorry
Domestic Error
Why Don’t You Love Me
God, Abraham, & Xanax
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Fear is the Mind Killer
Encore
This Is Not My Song
War Isn’t Murder
Below are color digital shots and home-rolled/developed/scanned 35mm black-and-white photos of Jesse Welles performing on Feb. 19, 2025, at The Atlantis in Washington DC. All images copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.
