I haven’t wanted to say it but YOLO.

Jesse Wells is not John Prine. He isn’t even close.

December 26, 2025 - 23:43 UTC

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Did I miss somebody claiming he is?!? Good god.
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I thought he was trying to be Bob Dylan? Or maybe I’m thinking of someone else.
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I mean, no one is John Prine
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And that’s especially true for Wells.
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Shit, he ain't even on Tyler Childers's level, let alone Prine.
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The world needed more John Prine
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Nobody is John Prine except John Prine.
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He’s so far from John Prine that I’ve never even heard of him until this thread. And won’t be researching him any further. Case closed.
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Jesse Welles has never had a happy enchilada, and it shows.

I think he's more of a Shooter Jennings crossed with Jason Isbell to me. Edgier and more overtly political. Which may be what we need right now. But I can't compare him to Prine, at least not with his current body of work.
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I enjoy him for who he is, but he is not prominent on my playlist at the moment.
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Please say it.

And keep saying it.

It feels like there are only a handful of us who have been saying it from the jump, and I am so tired of that man and his haircut and his Principled Centrist! stance that people refuse to interrogate beyond the 1 out of every 38284 of his tracks that go viral.
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If you’re with me, then I know I’m on solid ground.
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I get it. I know what itch he scratches. He is mostly harmless. But you’ve got to listen to him the way I listen to Silk Sonic — tap your feet but don’t confuse the copy for the original.
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I actually think he’s a bit harmful; he’s had more than a few songs where it was clear he didn’t know what he was talking about. Songs about Ozempic and college come to mind.
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Professor. 💀

Reminding me to listen to the O’Jays
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his musical forebearer is that Autotune The News youtuber more than anything
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And they turned out to be decent musicians
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God, you ain’t kidding. And Jesse Wells desperately needs to get out of the communities or reddits that are filling him up with conspiracy theories. I’m waiting for that to take a dark turn, there’ve already been signs.
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I enjoyed his stuff that happened across my timeline until CKirk. When that happened his song was “omg if it could happen to that white boy who ‘speaks his mind’ it could happen to me” with zero thoughts about what is being spoken being more important than the speaker.
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He really wants to be what he is trying to be.
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<googles Jesse wells>
🤷🏾‍♂️
I wish you all the best. I wish you don't do like I do. And never fall in love with someone like you.
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Yeah but Jesse Wells is who we have right now and I’m sure John would be alright with it.
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no he is not all we have! why does there just have to be this one! god y'all just settle so often
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That’s sad.
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If we're genuinely looking for good activist songwriting/performance, there's this: haleyheynderickx.bandcamp.com/album/what-of-our-nature
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There is only one singer-songwriter?
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Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave? [ericandre.gif]
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I am an old woman
Named after my mother
My old man is another
Child that's grown old

If dreams were thunder
And lightning was desire
This old house would’ve burned down a long time ago

That’s not even in his top five
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people are saying that? Crazy talk.
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He's the walking definition of mediocrity. He's not even in the same universe as John Prine.

I lived in Evanston, a few blocks from Bonnie Koloc. She'd jam with friends on the front porch. John Prine was a regular.

Amazing talent.
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You should say it. He's simply not very interesting. If people do find him interesting, I hope they carve out some time to learn how to appreciate art. I can hear people going "don't be elitist!" I'm sure they also find a mealy red delicious wonderful. I've tasted too much to take that seriously.
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This about sums it up.
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THANK YOU.

I can't listen to him. I wish him well but ...
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Right. He should ride the train! It’s fine. But this is not folk music. It’s not resistance or movement music. It’s not poetry. Like cmon.
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Prine I ain’t, but some people attracted to this thread like my folk song inspired by Eugene Debs and ICE.

bsky.app/profile/bxe1...
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The idea that people make this comparison hurts my very soul
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still waiting for another musician to have the courage to make songs about happy enchiladas
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The glory of true love, girl you be followed, hee hee.
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He needs someone to tell him “you are what you are, and you ain’t what you ain’t. So listen up buster and listen up good: stop wishing for bad news and knocking on wood.”
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I know who John Prine is. I have no idea who Jesse Wells is.
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must be John Prine appreciation day, a friend sent this to me right after I read your thread. :-)
JP was a legend and a treasure.
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I first heard one of his viral songs on IG and thought, ok, that’s cute. When I learned that he had others that all sound the same and that he tours and isn’t just some internet kid, I was wildly confused. Still am.
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I saw John Prine on a tour he did with the North Mississippi AllStars as his backing band and it was fabulous!
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