Watch: Anthology Docs Vol. 1 – Robert Lester Folsom

Anthology Recordings presents the first in a series of short documentaries highlighting the lives and legacies of reissue artists on the Anthology roster.

In the months leading up to the 2014 release of Music And Dreams and Ode To A Rainy Day, Robert Lester Folsom would call the office every now and then to check on the progress of the projects. His kindness is immediate, and these conversations would seamlessly turn into chit-chat about the weather here in New York and his home in Jacksonville, his painting business, his daughters.

The inherent quality of peace within Lester’s proximity speaks to the ease with which our plan to create this documentary then fell into place. Come September, we had recruited filmmaker and friend Grant Stewart to document our road trip with Folsom through southern Georgia.

It was clear that Lester identified as an artist at an early age – a realization that was sustained by two supportive parents and intensified by his awakening to The Beatles. Yet none of the details of his early history pointed to an isolation or exclusion one might assume would beget of a small-town Georgia adolescence.

Instead, Lester recruited other neighborhood kids to become his bandmates – his younger sisters to be his back-up vocalists, his friends to pen his album art. Wherever he is, Lester’s radiance and generosity transform community into loyal fanbase. It was a beautiful alchemy to witness.

Among all the folks we met along our journey, the common denominator was a deep admiration for Lester and his uncompromising originality. It’s our hope that this film serves as a testament to this sentiment, and that Lester’s community might grow a little larger because of it.

For more on the documentary and to read Lester’s thoughts on the project, head over to Paste Magazine.

Music And Dreams and Ode To A Rainy Day: 1972-1975 are currently available in LP, CD, and digital formats.

Directed by Grant Stewart

Produced by Rachel Barnhart & Keith Abrahamsson