LOCAL

Musician Tolleson remembered for his talent, dedication

Staff Reports
Hendersonville Times-News
Robin Tolleson [PHOTO CREDIT/MATT ROSE]

Local drummer, music journalist and adored music instructor Robin Tolleson died suddenly last week, but his work will live on in the lives he touched.

Tolleson died Friday after collapsing on stage while performing with the band Secret B-Side at the Downtown After Five concert series in Asheville, according to news website Ashevegas.

Tolleson served as director of the Hendersonville Community Music Center — a music outreach nonprofit based out of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville that greatly expanded under Tolleson’s leadership.

Tolleson has been a professional musician and music journalist for 40 years. The son of San Francisco bandleader Walt Tolleson, Tolleson grew up around music and began playing drums at the age of 10.

He began studies with Kenny Williams at Drumland in San Francisco, continuing lessons with Bay Area show drummer Bill Nawrocki and jazzman George Marsh, then with Scott Meister at Appalachian State University. He returned to San Francisco and studied with Grammy winner Narada Michael Walden.

Tolleson has recorded albums with Indigo Swing, Gregory James, Patrick O’Hearn, The Secret B-Sides, Klarcnova, Cabo Verde, Big Block Dodge, Grammy-winning childrens’ hip-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and with his own jazz-funk trio Hip Bones, with whom he has also toured extensively.

Tolleson’s career in music journalism began in 1979. He has had more than 1,500 articles published in such prestigious music journals as Billboard, Jazz Times, Musician, Guitar Player, Wind Player and Mix.

He served as the North Carolina correspondent for Downbeat magazine and is a regular contributor to Modern Drummer magazine. He also wrote a column about the local music scene for the Times-News in the early 2010’s called Overtones.

In 2017, Tolleson was asked to serve as the Music Center’s director, according to the organization’s website, bringing in new ideas of music outreach such as the concept of a Mobile Music Lab.

The next month the Music Center began working with the Boys and Girls Club of Henderson County to provide a variety of music classes at the club’s facility, “to increase the musical fluency of our county’s young people, prepare them for middle and high school bands, encourage their creativity and provide a healthy outlet for their self-expression through engaging lessons with a team of excellent teachers.” The center continues to hold classes at the club as well as local schools.

Susan Mangrum serves as the Music Center’s organizational chairperson. Her excited and volatile nature was often the yin to Tolleson’s yang, his calm demeanor. He was just a good man, she said.

Mangrum recalled a time when the Music Center, which relies on grants and donations, was out of money, meaning Tolleson would no longer be able to give lessons. Tolleson said he’d do it for free.

“He said I cannot abandon ... he named like three kids' names down at the Boys and Girls Club,” said Mangrum. “He said I will not abandon them. I’ll work for free. That’s the kind of person he was. That was his life.”

Modern Drummer Magazine recognized Tolleson’s legacy with a post on Facebook:

“There are hundreds of drummers across the planet who benefited from Robin's enthusiasm, inquisitiveness, knowledge, and writings--and many, many more people, musicians and otherwise, who felt the love and support of his talent and activities on and off the bandstand. If you've followed Modern Drummer with any regularity, you've read Robin's work, and you've learned something about drums and drummers that you didn't know before.

"He will be sorely missed.”

The Arts Council of Henderson County also released a statement: “We are saddened to hear the news about Robin Tolleson's passing last Friday evening. Music was the center of his life, and our community will truly miss this man's dedication to teaching music to young people through the Mobile Music Lab at the Hendersonville Community Music Center! His work will live on in the lives of his students.”

A memorial service for Tolleson is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Donations to the Music Center in Tolleson’s memory can be made by visiting hvlmusic.com.