Jesse Welles: The Bitter End 2026

This  FUV Live session is also available as a podcast, "FUV Live Sessions." We're elevating WFUV's long history of live sessions and interviews via a podcast that you can find on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Podcasts. New episodes drop every Monday.

Jesse Welles has a lot to say about this American life — its sorrows, ignorance, and grace — especially over the last couple of years. He is prolific in the best way, releasing eight albums since 2024, both studio and field recordings, and at the time of his FUV Live concert at The Bitter End, Under the Powerlines (October 25-December 24).

Recent fans might have discovered Welles via his Instagram, which is at over 2.2 million followers as of the winter of 2026, or by way of TikTok (1.5 million). His lacerating dark humor, incisive (sometimes brusque) critiques, and perceptive songs hark back to forebears like Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Gil Scott-Heron and Mark Twain. In addition to his own Arkansas background and his role as witness to the complexities of human behavior (and tapping into characters that reflect this current climate), Welles's muse is the news.

As a lyricist making sense of current events, his ripostes come via tracks like "War Isn't Murder," "Join ICE," and "The Poor," Welles is blunt and concise. He says exactly what needs to be said — with plenty of room for reflection.

He is a deserving recipient of the 2025 AmericanaFest Free Speech Award, handed to him by John Fogerty. Welles was also nominated for four 2026 Grammy Awards, including Best Americana Album for Middle and Best Folk Album for Under the Powerlines (April 24-September 24). He didn't win, but it was the thought that counts. In the meantime, ahead of the Grammys, he was profiled by "CBS Sunday Morning" — and Welles will be touring with the Dave Matthews Band later this year.

In my conversation with Welles, backstage at The Bitter End before his set, we touched on various things, from his boyhood memories of Arkansas and his father, to working with Baez, one of his influences. He's soft-spoken and perhaps deliberately cryptic when it comes to interviews, preferring his lyrics to propel his perspective. "If you stop to think, you'll fall off the wire," he says.

The music from this session comes courtesy of Welles's Webster Hall shows last November: "Horses," "Join ICE," and a cover of the Bob Dylan-penned and Baez-invigorated "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright."

[Recorded: 11/17/25; Engineered by Jim O'Hara. Produced by Meghan Suma. Thanks to Webster Hall.]