Another local Grammy nominee is Jesse Welles. The 32-year-old singer-songwriter was born in Ozark, Arkansas. He played in rock bands across Northwest Arkansas in his younger years, and even made a move out to Nashville a decade ago to pursue a traditional music career. But in 2023, a health scare with his father brought him back to Arkansas. He started posting videos on social media, standing in a field under some power lines, performing protest songs like “War Isn’t Murder,” “Cancer,” and “UnitedHealth.” Wells has more than 3 million followers on Instagram and TikTok combined these days, and his output is prolific, to say the least.
In the calendar year 2025, he’s released four full length albums, plus two compilations of his songs he performed on TikTok. Welles has three Grammy nominations, including one for Best American Roots Song, Best Americana Performance, and Best Americana Album.
Earlier this year, he came to the Bruce and Ann Applegate News Studio Two as part of an NPR interview about Farm Aid, and performed this song for us here in the studio. Song is called “Gilgamesh.”
(“Giglamesh” plays.)
That was “Gilgamesh,” performed by Grammy nominated artist Jesse Welles in the Bruce and Ann Applegate News Studio Two earlier this year.
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