The Substack Jukebox 🎶🎵🎶

This week is dedicated to the Resistance! Listen to Jesse Welles, a sleeper hit from my friend Charles Bastille, and The Ballad of Stephen Miller from Bruce Kruger. You'll cry laughing! Seriously. 😂

The Substack Jukebox 3/23/2026

During times of unrest, music has always been in the background…sometimes funny, sometimes very real, but always inspiring. This weeks stack is dedicated to protest songs.

Stop by every Monday and discover new artists, hear old favorites you may have forgotten, and learn a little backstory on the work.

Send us your favorites and we’ll try to share them here! Thanks for listening.

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“Music is the universal language of mankind.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Bruce Kluger. Who is Bruce Kluger? He’s a widely published American writer, columnist, and commentator, known for his satire. The music-and the video-was generated by AI. Kluger wrote the lyrics for "‘The Ballad of Stephen Miller’ and it’s pure gold. 🤣

Then, Charles Bastille who writes a great column, Ruminato, wrote the lyrics, and engaged in some AI music creation. This is destined for the charts! 😂

I Got Me a Pedo President Click this link for a listen. No video to watch…yet! I laughed so hard I was in tears. Charles has a future in songwriting. 😂

And finally……

Have you heard Jesse Welles? He’s 33 years old, born in Ozark, Arkansas, and is a tremendous songwriter. To me, he is reminiscent of Dylan with his own brand of protest-driven folk-rock music. In 2023 he released four albums and was nominated for four grammys in 2026. Jesse won the Spirit of Americana/Free Speech Award at the 2025 Americana Music Honors & Awards and was recently featured on CBS Sunday Morning. Click the link to see the interview of this terrific talent.

It was hard to choose, so here’s his appearance on the Late Show. AND… this one’s good too. Just click this link—> Walmart. He sets up the camera on his phone and just records himself out in the wild. Look him up on YouTube.

He’s refreshingly authentic.

So what are you listening to? We wanna know. Share with all of us in the comments so we can expand our music libraries.

Hope you enjoyed the songs of our time, reflecting this time of resistance to the vile authoritarianism we’re enduring.

Thank you for being part of this community. 💙

If you can, support my work with a paid subscription, only $35 a year! Or, just make a one time donation here… it helps me keep writing and sharing!

Love you all. See you back here Friday!

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