At this very moment, Jesse Welles is likely riding down some American highway, reading Shakespeare’s King Lear, and pondering about a dead bug on the windshield. He also could be running on some city side street smiling at the arduously laid asphalt beneath his feet. No matter what Welles is doing, he is rejoicing in existence—rejoicing for himself and all the people existing alongside him directly or thousands of miles away.
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You don’t know Jesse Welles for this reason. Rather, you probably know him for poking and prodding America’s heaviest topical issues on social media. Before his voice etched its way into your daily doom scroll, Welles was about to toss in the towel and resort to a life with music in his rearview mirror. But when his father suffered a heart attack and survived, “The brevity of life just sank in” and he realized “The most important thing to do with the time is what you love.”
That brush with death paired with his unwavering selflessness is what brings Welles to this very moment, trekking across America on tour awaiting the release of his album, Middle. Which, for the shaggy-headed and sharp-tongued Arkansas native, is “a reincarnation of what [he’s] been up to for most of [his] life.”
A Mighty Fine Addition to The Greater American Consciousness
Armed with a guitar he bought on Facebook marketplace, and the backdrop of the Ozark Mountains, Welles accumulated his following by singing about the systemic grievances festering in America’s stomach with his tunes such as “Walmart” and “United Health.”
To Welles, his charged music has seemingly been generations in the making, and consequently, he is joining a decorated group of folks he views as his muses. “Whether the United States likes it or not, they have a tradition of wordsmiths. And those are the people that I look to. I look to Herman Melville, I look to Walt Whitman, and Cormac McCarthy, and Mark Twain…I call upon those people to help me sing words,” states Welles. Not to spoil, but several of these names just might show up on numerous of Welles’ unreleased songs from his upcoming album.
Welles might modestly refuse to accept that he is swinging alongside these heavyweights as well as with the likes of John Prine and Bob Dylan. But, he is, and eloquently at that. Even though Welles holds these voices as influences and is carrying this torch, his empathetic sights are set far beyond any border. His comments, tour dates, and heavily anticipated album, Middle, suggest just that.
Everything Belonging To Jesse Welles Belongs To You
Jesse Welles’ most notable songs might be rooted in this American tradition, but he creates and exists for anyone and anything willing to listen, for what is his is also everyone else’s. “I will sing, sing, sing. My song or someone else’s, I don’t care. Because somebody else’s song is your song when you start to sing it, my song is everyone else’s song when they sing it,” Welles attested.
At its most basic form, that is seemingly Welles’ mission—to strike a chord of mutuality and selflessly share the greater creative experience amounting to a harmonious solidarity. This is in fact one of the very things Welles is most excited for on his current Fear Is The Mind Killer Tour, as he divulged, “I’m excited to see the people and to play them songs” and “To be a part of the people and for them to be part of my songs.
With all that in mind, it would behoove you not to coin Jesse Welles solely as America’s next protest singer, as the man contains multitudes and exists for no one person, place, or thing. Rather, everything he creates is up for sale and free of charge.
While Welles is certainly grateful for the success and experiences his new-found fame has brought him, he seemingly doesn’t need any of it. Welles says, “You need no audience to thank the world for letting you be,” and that is Jesse Welles’ greatest superpower.
So, it seems Welles is content with the woods, his running shoes, his books, his guitar, and the blank page. Nothing nor nobody will stop Jesse Welles from rejoicing in existence and celebrating life itself.
Make sure to check out Jesse Welles’ album, Middle, on Friday, February 21, and his single “Horses,” now.
Photo via QPrime
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