Robert Lester Folsom on Becoming a Documentary Subject
An affinity for rain and otherwise gloomy weather traditionally can be found with more emo-slanted music or, you know, Shirley Mason. Robert Lester Folsom’s work certainly dissects emotional matter, taking a cross-slice of a certain feeling and holding light up to it in the form of serious guitar flanging. However, its psychedelic warmth seems a poor fit when paired with a downtrodden mosh pit.
Yet, Folsom and Mexican Summer’s Anthology imprint deemed Ode To A Rainy Day the perfect fit for the re-release of his archives from the early ‘70s. He grew up in rural South Georgia, where the sun cranks on high most days and outdoor activities reigned champion on a 1960s/1970s young person’s list of recreational options. But when clouds darkened and flooded the sky, Lester and his comrades would retreat indoors to tinker with music.
“When it rained we couldn’t swim or anything, so we’d record,” Folsom tells me over the phone from his current home in Jacksonville, Fla. The collection released in October.
The soft-spoken, bright-eyed artist released his only proper full-length Music And Dreams in 1978. When nothing major happened in its wake, he eventually made his way to Jacksonville where he had a family and worked as professional house painter. In 2010 Mexican Summer re-released it, sparking his jumping on official CMJ showcases and enjoying some critical praise. Life has been kinda weird in general for the past four years for Folsom. So when Keith Abrahamsson from Mexican Summer reached out and wanted to talk about a potential documentary, Folsom was immediately nervous.
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