Jordan Smart - 2025 Nelsonville Music Festival Sycamore Session

January 13, 2026 (Emily Votaw) – Singer-songwriter Jordan Smart has a reputation for using plainspoken songwriting and straightforward musicality to confront all varieties of contemporary injustice, inequality, and hypocrisy. Smart opens his Sycamore Sessions set with “Pickle Song,” using playful pickle imagery as a potent political allegory. He then moves into the title track from his most recent full-length release, "Confessions of a CEO," released in September, delivering a biting critique of the American healthcare system and the moral detachment of those who control it. He follows with “Humanitarian Raid,” a song centered on civilian suffering and perseverance in a war-torn landscape. Smart then shifts gears, inviting the gathered audience into a full call-and-response as a part of his performance of “Hearing Voices.” He closes the session with another song from "Confessions of a CEO," “Who Would Jesus Bomb?” Setlist 0:15 – "Pickle Song" 3:04 – "Confessions of a CEO" 7:26 – "Humanitarian Raid" 12:20 – "Hearing Voices" 21:30 – "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" Director – Andie Walla Technical Director – Sydney Holl Editors – Anna Aldis, Maddie Benedict, Wes Pai Camera Operators Brandon Boothe Keagan O’brien Matt Quinn Chase Strebel Gigi Twatchman Audio Production Team Martin Bradesca Matthew Hilliard Ben Stewart Artist Relations Team Luka Martin Jillian Schatzley Mia Voice The Sycamore Sessions are presented by the Nelsonville Music Festival in collaboration with WOUB Public Media and the Ohio University Scripps College of Communication’s School of Media Arts and Studies. The videos are created by Media Arts and Studies students under the guidance of Producer and Host Josh Antonuccio, Audio Supervisor Adam Rich, WOUB Arts and Culture Editor Emily Votaw, and Director of Photography Andie Walla. All performances were filmed during the 2025 Nelsonville Music Festival, a production of Stuart’s Opera House.