Jess Makler (unslump.substack.com)
The third installment of previously unreleased songs from 71-year-old Robert Lester Folsom is a breath of fresh air, mixing nostalgia of the past with a fervor for the present. Folsom’s partnership with Mexican Summer and Anthology Recordings has gifted listeners his personal archive of home-recorded tapes, conceived during his teenagedom in Adel, Georgia as he worked as a house painter during summer break.
Recorded on the left side of a reel-to-reel and overdubbed on the right, Folsom invented self-production before the bedroom pop generation. Hitting record when inspiration struck with a group of like-minded friends, Folsom’s tracks are gloriously unfinished—one was even taped at a local hog parlor.
Folsom’s writing reveals timeless truths of fading summer loves (“I Don’t Know,” “What Are You Thinking Of?”), finger-lickin’ good psychedelic country bluegrass in the spirit of Doc Watson (“Mountain Air Rag,” “Gene Autry”), and Beach Boys’ styled, sun-bleached surf goodness (“Sitting on the Moon,” “Burnt Carmine”).
Despite these 13 tracks remaining unheard for decades, they sound familiar, steeped in the wisdom of someone with much more lived experience than the teenager who recorded them. Echoing the soft-rock twang of Steely Dan and quiet reflections of Simon and Garfunkel, Folsom proves that a summer in ‘70s rural Georgia strikes true to the youth of today. Folsom is touring these tracks for the first time since writing them, playing across the country with a full backing band. Revered by a primarily younger audience, his message of hope remains eternal.
“If the music had only happened like it’s happened recently, it would have been awesome,” Folsom revealed in an interview with Paste Magazine. “I don’t know how long it would have lasted, though. I’d probably end up being a painter instead of being a rock star anyway.”