Jesse Welles

Jesse Welles plays ACL Live at The Moody Theater on Thursday, October 8, for a taping of Austin City Limits recorded live for Austin PBS. It's his season 52 debut on the show, and the whole set will be livestreamed on YouTube.com/AustinCityLimitsTV, with the full performance available only during that live event before the episode premieres on PBS early next year.

Welles is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from the Ozarks of Arkansas who's carved out a singular spot in folk and Americana, pairing plainspoken lyrics with a rock 'n' roll attitude. In 2024, he started self-filming performances beneath power lines in the Arkansas woods, a conceit that sparked a grassroots phenomenon: viral anthems like "War Isn't Murder," "The Poor," "That Can't Be Right," and "United Health" have drawn nearly a billion total views and streams. Over the last two years, he's released eight full-length albums and earned four 2026 GRAMMY Award nominations, plus a nomination for Artist of the Year at the 2026 Americana Awards and the association's Spirit of Americana Award for Free Speech in 2025.

He's worked with Joan Baez, Billy Strings, Mt. Joy, Margo Price, and Sierra Ferrell. His latest album, Masks Off, produced with Eddie Spear, confronts collective unrest and the abuse of power. The taping is at ACL Live at The Moody Theater, 310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd, in Austin. Doors open at 7 PM and the show starts at 8 PM.