Colorado Social Justice Singer/Songwriter Rebecca Folsom at Manhasset Church October 4

Rebecca Folsom chuckles when told that her social justice songs are “all over the map.” 

Her twelve albums, including “Sanctuary,” include songs about immigrants’ rights, racial and environmental justice, homelessness, domestic violence, agism, refugees, prison reform, gun violence, women’s rights, mental health, bullying, and gay and trans rights. 

Besides that, she has conducted more than 60 “Open Your Voice” workshops in minority communities teaching marginalized people how to advocate for themselves. Folsom, 63, who will appear Sunday, October 4, at 1:00 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock in Manhasset, says many of her lyrics stem from the trauma she experienced in her teens when her parents divorced, went their separate ways, and abandoned their five children.  

“I think deep down,” Folsom, 63, said by phone from her Boulder, Colorado home, “it came from the place in me that was wounded. I came from a privileged background, I felt entitled. And I went from middle class to marginalized. When the big crash came, I had a case of ‘Boy, life can blindside you.’ It really opened my eyes.” 

“For a while,” she added, “we lived in our house without our parents. Then it was couch surfing trying to find a place to stay. I felt like I got a late start [in the music business] and had some lost years…But I quit drinking and doing drugs and I realized my voice was powerful and I had a lot to give. I got into gratitude and how good my life was. It fosters generosity.” 

In her early teens, Folsom sang in a choir, taught herself how to play guitar and entered songwriting competitions. After her parents split, she said she didn’t feel like singing for more than a decade. 

In her mid-twenties, when she was working as a bookkeeper and had married her husband Roger, a general contractor and lung cancer survivor, Folsom said she decided to study for two years with a music teacher. “She helped me find my voice. I started singing professionally 33 or 34 years ago and started touring a few years after that regionally in Colorado and New Mexico. And then I really started to hit the road.” 

At first, Folsom said she sang traditional folk songs in the style of Joni Mitchell and Carole King. “And then, she said, “I started writing my own stuff.” She put a band together that “loved to rock,” moved to Nashville, for a few years and said, “my writing morphed. I was writing to be angry or ‘let’s live life to the fullest.’ I learned songwriting and toured out of there with original music—singer/songwriter stuff. And then I got rebellious, writing stuff that was more true to myself. I brought out the best of my soul to my work. And then came ‘Sanctuary.’” 

In 2018, Folsom decided to reach out to marginalized people such as prisoners, the homeless, immigrants, refugees…working through nonprofits to interview their clients and see what she could do to help them. She called it her Sanctuary Project. “It was like, ‘OK, who’s marginalized,’” Folsom said with a laugh. “I figured I have this platform; I have a microphone. What can I do to help people out of a difficult situation? She did benefit concerts and began her workshops, some of them subsidized by arts councils, in marginalized communities. “The workshops focus on ‘What is your authentic voice,’” she said, “and how can you access it—which is a huge benefit to people who have been marginalized.” Folsom said she enjoys lecturing on songwriting, singing, and performing at elementary schools. “I do many of them by myself,” she said, “but with funding I’ll bring in a three- or five-piece band…and then the kids will get up and sing. They come alive; they’re hungry to learn.” 

“Sanctuary,” Folsom’s best album, came out in 2023. “It cost $350,000, and grants and donations helped fund it. There’s an exquisiteness to this album. We went for quality. No throw-away lines or faking it…Some of my co-writers were Vietnam veterans who had never told their stories. Nonprofits and donors were so helpful. I worked with Grammy-winning producers. We recorded it in Dallas and Los Angeles. It’s become an umbrella for the project. It’s about anyone whose voice has been compromised. I just felt every voice matters.” 

Folsom has played live on the BBC network, performed in Ireland, Boston, all over Colorado, and at the Bitter End and the Living Room in Manhattan. She has played at festivals all over the country and had gigs at numerous UU churches. 

“I love Unitarians,” she said. “Their give-back is huge. UUs are kind. They believe in the right of every person to be safe, be loved and be joyful…the right to heal and live happy lives.

  _____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Rebecca Folsom will sing at an 11:00 AM Worship Service and will perform a 1:00 PM concert at the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Rd., Manhasset. on Sunday, October 4. Admission is $10. Donations will be accepted to benefit immigrants’ rights groups on Long Island. 

 _____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Watch this video as UUCSR member Jim Smith chats with singer/songwriter/activist Rebecca Folsom.