By Lily Rutherford
Folk music has long served as a tool for political, cultural, and social expression. Rooted in oral tradition, the genre endures through human connection and collective experience; even in a time like today, in what many describe as one of the loneliest eras in modern history.
One of the genre’s most relentless rising voices is Jesse Welles. Born in 1992 in Ozark, Arkansas, Welles draws heavily from his early environment and upbringing, using themes of place and identity as major influences in his music. Towards the beginning of his career, he mostly played around with rock and grunge, only honing his current folk-driven sound in 2024.
Welles came to Knoxville’s Bijou Theatre on February 23, 2026 to kickoff his Under the Powerlines Tour. Opening the evening, S.G. Goodman delivered a phenomenal set, including a cover of Florence Reece’s “Which Side Are You On.”
Contextually, Florence Reece was a social activist and songwriter from Tennessee. Married to Sam Reece, an organizer of the infamous Harlan County War strike by the United Mine Workers of America and the National Miners Union, she had firsthand accounts of the struggles laborers around her faced. These experiences contributed to her use of music as a political vessel, especially within social rights and unionism.
Reece and her husband were influential union activists, and “Which Side Are You On” took their needs for change and brought them to a broader audience through music. This song ties closely to recurring themes in Welles’ own music. Goodman’s rendition rallied the audience to sing and call back lyrics together, becoming a part of the performance and movement.
With the crowd energized, Welles and his band took the stage. He opened with some of his most well known work, beginning with “Join Ice,” the song that shot him into the national spotlight after his performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert went viral at the end of 2025. While already provocative, the title and themes carried an added weight amid the current U.S. political climate. It’s unsurprising this song resonated so strongly with listeners.
Other hits Welles played included some of his originals that first gained traction on platforms like TikTok – “Whistle Boeing,” “Cancer,” and “War Isn’t Murder” included. Like much of his discography, these songs call attention to ongoing social and political issues. Through “Whistle Boeing” and “War Isn’t Murder,” Welles confronts issues from corporate whistleblower scandals to the moral detachments surrounding global conflict. His songwriting calls out the world as it is, pressuring listeners to confront uncomfortable questions about their own complicity.
Some thematically lighter songs in his performance included fan favorites, “Bugs” and “Turtles.” Both simple in meaning, these songs offered relief in the show. “Bugs,” in particular, moved the entire theater into a playful sway, and towards the end of the song, where Welles buzzes like a bee, the audience joined him in a collective buzzing. In that moment, the Bijou was a theater turned beehive.
The only surprise songs added into the setlist consisted of covers – “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan. Each choice a nod to Welles’ background, the inclusion of these works helped frame his music within a broader context of past artists who have pushed musical boundaries between personal expression and cultural commentary.
A majority of the main performance was played back to back, with almost no breaks between songs. It was as impressive as it was nearly tiring, watching him sing, play acoustic guitar, and play harmonica simultaneously. This display of stamina left the audience wondering how he could keep going with such energy.
More than a performance, the show felt like a reflection of history and place. Even on a local scale, Welles’ music acknowledged what Knoxville, and Appalachia more broadly, have endured. This region has an extensive history with folk music, unionism, and activism. Knoxville has maintained well-established worker’s unions since the mid-20th century, each representing the needs of its communities. Paired with Appalachian folk traditions and their deep cultural roots, you can see why these movements have hung on for so long.
Within this space, Welles’ musicresonates as part of a long-standing tradition of storytelling as resistance. The history of worker unions in Appalachia is not a pretty one, but it’s defined by its resilient spirit. Undoubtedly, we hear this same spirit in Welles’ songs and performances – even in the American flag draped behind his band throughout the show.
Folk music, like Welles’, is built on the shoulders of giants. From its inception, it has survived and spread through human connection and collectivism built off of shared experiences. As unions face a decline today, we can look to performances like Welles’ and Goodman’s, as they continue to share important parts of our humanity through art and sustain what it means to be an activist. Jesse Welles has spoken openly about using his music to combat current social and political realities. At its core, his work is rooted in a belief that, even within a system beyond individual control, love remains a radical and necessary response.