“Thelma's Homemade Wine” is a song that was written and performed by Sullivan’s Island musician, singer, and songwriter Bob Tobin. The genre could be classified as rhythm and blues or perhaps Americana. The song is about an exceptional woman and her homemade elixir. It’s also, in a way, about the mystery of discovering and enjoying the things that bring joy.
“Thelma,” the central figure in the song, is Tobin’s creation. The wine is a product of his imagination, and the name Thelma was borrowed from a girl who dated a friend of Tobin’s decades ago when the nearly 84-year-old singer-songwriter was a teenager.
“Her name just fit the song,” he said.
Tobin credits his inspiration for songs to “all directions” stemming from years of experience in various occupations, many of which are tied to the water and coastal regions. He worked as a tugboat captain, served four years in the Coast Guard, spent several years commercial fishing, and for 25 years before retiring, he built docks, boathouses, boat lifts, and even some homes.
His earliest memory of performing was singing “Silent Night” at a Christmas program hosted by a kindergarten near his family home on Huger Street in Charleston’s Westside in the mid-1940s. Tobin’s love for music began with listening to singer Al Jolson on a 1940s-era radio. Around 1947, his family moved to Mount Pleasant, where he started elementary school. Today, Tobin takes great joy in meeting for lunch on the first Monday of every month with a dozen or more members of his first-grade class.
“It amazes me that so many are still around,” he said.
In high school, Tobin’s serious interest in music began when he joined a doo-wop a cappella quartet that often performed before football games on Fridays.
Music took a back seat for a while. Years later, Tobin and his brother moved to Gulf Shores, Alabama, and opened a marine construction business. Before the move, he had begun teaching himself to play the harmonica. Hard times struck after about a year, and Tobin spent much of his time writing songs and honing his harmonica skills. During this period, he frequented a bar and grill called the Flora-Bama, which straddles the Florida-Alabama state line. One memorable night, a well-known singer noticed Tobin discreetly playing his harmonica in a corner and encouraged him to join him on stage.
Soon after, Tobin returned to Charleston and began performing his songs at local venues. He met and married Adele, a potter with a studio and gallery on Sullivan’s Island. The couple formed a musical duo and played together at various Charleston-area venues for many years. They still perform occasionally.
Over the past two decades, Tobin has performed across the United States, in Mexico, and in his favorite location, Costa Rica.
“It never gets old,” he said.
He continues to write songs and co-write with other talented songwriters, always striving to bring melody, rhythm, and lyrics together seamlessly.
For the past 14 years, Tobin has been invited to perform at the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival, held every November at the now-expanded and world-famous Flora-Bama. This spring, he will join his talented young friend Tim Styles for a brief tour in California.
Tobin has released three CDs, which can be ordered online at his website, www.bobtobinmusic.com. His next local performances with his band, the Sons a Pitches, are scheduled for January 30 at the Mainland Container in Mount Pleasant from 6 to 9 p.m. and February 8 at Mount Pleasant Towne Centre from noon to 3 p.m.
The Sons a Pitches:
Ed Hunnicutt: Vocals, harmony, guitar, and bass
Bob Sachs: Vocals, harmony, mandolin, and guitar
Larry Jefferies: Vocals, harmony, guitar, and bass
Bob Tobin: Vocals, harmony, guitar, and harmonica
“We do a mixture of mostly original songs and popular cover tunes,” Tobin said.