Woody Guthrie spoke to a Depression-era shellshocked America. His music, especially “This Land Is Your Land” defined its generation. Twenty-five years later Bob Dylan became the voice of young people, disenfranchised from their parents’ staid, conservative beliefs. The Folk movement became the soundtrack to the Civil Rights Movement that defined much of the early to mid 1960s.
Arkansas native Jesse Welles has seemingly taken up that mantle from Dylan and Guthrie, offering powerful protest songs for a new generation of both hardcore activists and music fans.
While he may initially come off like a twangy country solo act, his backing band accompanying him on tight compositions and covers of some well-known seminal Rock tunes gives them some hard-edged chops.
After appearing in a widely-acclaimed spot at last month’s Farm Aid benefit in Virginia Beach, he continued with his tour, stopping at the world-famous Agora on Sunday night.
Taking to the stage with an acoustic guitar, he started off the night with a trio of scathing tunes that indict modern life. “Walmart” is a takedown of the soulless, corporate juggernaut that has ravaged the American worker. “United Health” is a broadside against the American healthcare industry; he released the song in the wake of the assassination of its CEO, Brian Thompson, in 2024. One particular lyric, regarding Thompson’s murder, elicited an audible cheer from the crowd.
After the fourth song, his band came out to the stage. A tight quartet, they amped it up with a full-bodied sound, giving us covers of such classics as “War Pigs” and “Come As You Are,” showing that they’re just not a protest outfit.
The haunting “Everyone Who Hated Me is Dead” was followed up by “The Poor,” another indictment of late-stage capitalism.
Towards the middle of the show he sang “Join ICE,” which is a tune best delivered simply, stripped down. The lyrics are scathing satire, the presentation slow and deliberate. Here it was amped up into a harder rock song, eliminating some of its ability to capture the imagination of the listener.
He played a total of 27 tunes, with late-set highlights such as “The Ballad of Big Balls” and the whimsical “Bugs” as standouts.
The end of the night was capped by “War Is Murder,” his signature tune.
Welles may very well be at the forefront of a new movement; his songs are topical and timely. Capturing the mood of the country, he could be the powder that lights a new keg. Yep, lots of hyperbole there, but the crowd was amped and the energy was overwhelmingly positive. In a few weeks, we’ll all see how much of that translates to real change.
