{"id":3582027,"uri":"https://api.kexp.org/v2/plays/3582027/?format=json","airdate":"2025-11-23T17:42:19-08:00","show":65190,"show_uri":"https://api.kexp.org/v2/shows/65190/?format=json","image_uri":"","thumbnail_uri":"","song":"No Kings","track_id":null,"recording_id":null,"artist":"Jesse Welles","artist_ids":[],"album":null,"release_id":null,"release_group_id":null,"labels":[],"label_ids":[],"release_date":null,"rotation_status":null,"is_local":false,"is_request":false,"is_live":false,"comment":"Happy Birthday to the wonderful Jesse Welles, who celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday!\n\nWelles was born in Ozark, Arkansas, and grew up there in Northwest Arkansas. He began playing guitar at age 11, and as a teenager he began recording songs which he sold on burned CDs. His musical influences growing up included the folk, country, classic rock, and Motown genres, as well as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Nirvana. He also cites \"American wordsmiths\" Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Cormac McCarthy, and Mark Twain as influences.\n\nIn 2016, Welles lived for a while in an abandoned building turned art commune in the mountains around Fayetteville. \n\nUpon graduating from high school, he transferred from University of Arkansas to John Brown University where he earned a degree in music theory.\n\nWelles has recently been nominated for four categories at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, scheduled to occur in 2026: Best Folk Album for Under The Powerlines (April 24 – September 24), Best Americana Album for Middle, Best American Roots Song for \"Middle,\" and Best Americana Performance for \"Horses.\" https://tinyurl.com/bdfa6wwh","location":1,"location_name":"Default","play_type":"trackplay"}