Jesse Appelman grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has spent his life playing mandolin — bluegrass, old-time, Brazilian choro, new acoustic music, and beyond. His debut solo album, Where We Go (2026), earned a "Top of the World" selection from the UK's Songlines magazine and reached #6 on the Folk Alliance International chart. He tours with the Sam Grisman Project — including sets at DelFest, Strawberry Music Festival, and the California Bluegrass Association Father's Day Festival, and multiple sets backing Peter Rowan — and has performed with Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Mark Schatz, Keith Little, and Scott Nygaard. A native of Palo Alto now based in Oakland, California, Jesse left a career in nonprofit management in 2022 to play music full time.

As an educator, Jesse has worked with students of all ages and levels at the California Bluegrass Association Summer Music Camp, Walker Creek Music Camp, David Grisman and Mike Marshall’s Mandolin Symposium, California Brazil Camp, and currently teaches private lessons at Manning Music.