Robert Lester Folsom at the Raccoon Motel -- September 7.
Monday, September 7, 6 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Lauded by Post-Trash as " a breath of fresh air, mixing nostalgia of the past with a fervor for the present," 71-year-old singer/songwriter and performance veteran Robert Lester Folsom headlines a September 7 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist touring in support of his critically acclaimed 2026 release If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes: Archives Vol. 3, 1972-1975.
As stated at AllMusic.com: "Born and raised in Georgia, Folsom had his heart set on a music career from the very beginning, spending his formative years listening to the local AM radio station with his music-loving parents and soaking in the rich era's deluge of sounds, including Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and the Beatles. He played in bands throughout high school, eventually landing himself a Sears reel-to-reel four-track recorder, with which he began recording both himself and his friends. After attending South Georgia College he hooked up with the musicians who would eventually become his band Abacus, including Sparky Smith, Hans Van Brackle, Van Whiddon, and Jimmy Whiddon. The group honed their chops playing mixers, proms, and the like, eventually heading to Atlanta to look for a potential studio to record some original material.
“Unable to get on the same page creatively when it came to laying down tracks, Folsom made the decision, with some help from LeFevre Studios head engineer Stan Dacus, to go solo, though he ultimately enlisted the band's help in putting his songs to tape. Upon its release in 1978, Music and Dreams (only 1,000 copies were issued) garnered some airplay in both Georgia and Florida, but by the time Folsom got around to attempting a follow-up, the realities of life (financial and familial) had tempered his dreams of a career in music, and he became a full-time house painter.
"Folsom's career underwent a bit of a resurgence in 2010 after both Mexican Summer and South Korea's Riverman Music reissued the album in deluxe vinyl and CD editions. A collection of Folsom's old home recordings entitled Ode to a Rainy Day: Archives 1972-1975 followed in 2014. While new fans were discovering Folsom's '70s material for the first time, he was working on new material and in 2016 released Beautiful Nonsense, then in 2020 Abacus Atlanta Sessions. In 2022, a second volume of unreleased demos surfaced with Sunshine Only Sometimes: Archives Vol. 2, 1972–1975. Though culled from lo-fi home recordings made in the same time period as Ode to a Rainy Day, Sunshine Only Sometimes focused on more psychedelic and sometimes more somber material, offering up 12 more tunes from an archive that allegedly contained dozens and dozens of fully formed, if roughly captured songs.
"Folsom issued the EP Chunka-Chunka in 2024, a breezy and slightly funky set of new material rooted in his signature AM psych-pop style. In 2026, he released a third set of archival psych-folk songs, If You Wanna Laugh, You Gotta Cry Sometimes: Archives Vol. 3, 1972-1975. The album was released on Mexican Summer. Still actively performing, Folsom planned North American tour dates around the release of the collection."
Robert Lester Folsom performs his headlining engagement in Davenport on September 7 with an additional set by Oscar Lindsey, admission to the 6 p.m. concert event is $33.06, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
