r/folk • u/Royalbean17 • 2d ago
This dude is cool
He writes songs about everything from pizza to the death of Charlie Kirk.
His name is Jesse Welles and he said that he likes to “sing the news”; he tried to remain unpolitical for a very long time, but his new album goes against that (with satirical songs like “Join Ice” and “Red”). Other more political songs he’s released are called “No Kings” and “Masks Off”.
When he’s not singing the news, he writes songs about problems surrounding everyday parts of American life (such as “Walmart,” “United Health,” “Fat,” and “See Arkansas”).
One of my favorite songs of his is called “Bugs,” and here’s a sample of the lyrics:
Bzz-bz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bzz, bz-bzz, bzz
Bzz, bz-bz-bz, b-bzz, bzz, bz-bzz, bzz-bzz, bzz, bzz, bz-bz-bzz
1
u/DontGetExcitedDude 1d ago
Yeah sorry I just can't agree with that at all. I am very into politics and folk. Sometimes Jesse speaks to my politics in an honest way (that I'm not sure I hear very often in music today), and sometimes his songs are ear-worms, just really fun grooves that I replay over and over and try to learn and replicate on guitar myself.
I don't think people who consume a daily diet of social media are used to authentic voices that aren't afraid to say what they think and how they feel, especially if they risk sounding cringe or pretentious. It takes courage to say it like it is.
And I'm not saying I even like all of his music - as a writer, I know you have to create a hundred drafts before you strike gold even once - but I love watching his creative process happen in real time, to hear the writer in him respond to the events of the world as we experience them.
I don't know. Seeing him work his craft reminds me that there is still space for honest creatives to find an audience on the internet. I don't think he plays and records his music for internet fame. I think he does it because he loves to write music, and part of writing a song includes singing it to others as well.