Charleston City Paper: Digs - February 2023

ROB

LAMBLE

VALENTINE’S GIFT-GIVING TIPSFROM A FLORISTLOCAL +

FIVE CRAFTY WAYS TO MAKE THE MOST OF VALENTINE’S DAY

HOLY COW!

EDITOR and PUBLISHER

Andy Brack

STAFF

Chelsea Grinstead, Rūta Smith

CONTRIBUTOR

Toni Reale

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Five crafty ways to make the most of Valentine’s Day

From staff reports

Give a twist to Valentine’s Day this year by showing your romantic side with a craft project or two. Add a little TLC to your home or share your affection with loved ones by dedicating some time to simple do-it-yourself projects that come straight from the heart. Here are five suggestions:

Creative cutouts

Places and moments hold special places in the heart. So memorialize them with decorative wall hangings. Use a treasured photo

or map of destinations you hold dear as the base layer. Next, choose a design, such as a heart or a romantic word like “love.” Then print your design and trace it on a piece of foam core or matting. Cut out the design to create an opening and layer it over the photo or map. To finish the project, either affix the top layer to the bottom and display as-is or place it in a pretty frame.

Sucker for succulents

Hardy and easy to care for, succulents are a stylish way to add some plant life to your home. Add a romantic twist by gathering a selection of small succulents in a variety of colors and textures then clustering them in a heart-shaped basket or planter. Succulents also make great gifts — just create a small planter and attach a card that conveys your warmest thoughts.

Love is in the cards

Almost everyone has a deck or two of old playing cards laying around. Using the red-hued cards from the heart suite, punch holes in the top of each card. String heart-themed ribbon through the holes to make a whimsical banner you can hang on a wall or across a doorway to delight your loved one when they walk into a room.

Say it in string

Expressing yourself with string art is an easy project suitable for all ages. Start with a firm backing, such as a scrap of lightweight wood. Add a base coat of paint to make your design pop then sketch your design. Examples like a flower, heart, word or some combination of those are all good choices for a Valentine’s Day project. Add thin nails in half-inch intervals along the border of your design. Select your string and tie an end to the nail of your choice. There’s no right or wrong way from there — just loop from one nail to another until your design is obvious. Tie off your string, trim any excess end pieces and you’re done.

Collage of comrades

Paying tribute to those you hold near and dear is easy with a stylized cork board. Select snapshots of loved ones and attach them to a basic cork board using push pins in classic Valentine’s colors like red, white and pink. Then add accents with tape, stickers, gemstones and other embellishments. Voila! Instant, artistic classic!

You can explore more fun do-it-yourself ideas to enhance your home at eLivingtoday.com. Family Features contributed to this story.

Photos by Getty Images

Valentine’s Day string art is a great project for any age.

Decorate a cork or display board with a collage of photos, cutout hearts, accent tape, stickers and more.

Local music still gives Lamble an earful

By Chelsea Grinstead

Vintage music relics hang on the walls and decorate the surfaces throughout Rob Lamble’s Mount Pleasant home, a fitting introduction to the man who founded the Lowcountry entertainment agency Ear For Music in 1997.

Old guitar picks, concert photos, show posters and reverb pedals are displayed with great care. Book spines and weathered albums reveal an affinity for audio art from all over the genre map in line with Lamble’s passion for live entertainment that he’s carried since childhood.

“I was always a music nut,” Lamble said with a smile. He sat on a well-worn leather sofa in a den that spills off the living room in a charming Mount Pleasant home that he shares with his wife Erika Lamble, who books events for Ear For Music and represents various local music acts.

“I bought this house during the bottom of the recession in 2009 from a gentleman who was a contractor,” Lamble said. “He was renovating this house for his father to move into. He had gutted it and almost finished [renovating] it — and I just walked in and fell in love with it.”

The cozy den is a time capsule and a tribute: His dad’s 1982 turntable and old record collection take residence across the room from an early 1970s Hammond organ, which sits next to his grandfather’s record player bought in 1968. It still works.

Lamble and Ear For Music have booked talent and promoted concerts for Charleston music venues and festivals for 26 years, contributing to the success of 96 WaveFest, Trondossa Music and Arts Festival, Party at the Point, High Water and, most recently, Riverfront Revival, to name a few.

How he got started

The Charleston native first caught what he calls “the bug” for the music business when his dad opened the Tunes Discs & Tapes record store in 1988 in Mount Pleasant. He worked in the store on and off when he traveled down from Salisbury, North Carolina, where he attended high school and later college after he relocated with his mom.

His dad also managed ticketing for the old music venue Myskyns Tavern on Market Street and later Faber Street downtown. When

Lamble often listens to tunes in the den of his Mount Pleasant home.

A sign from the family’s old music store.

Myskyns sold, it reopened as Acme Bar. “They were getting ready to sell, and they did a New Year’s Eve show in 1993 with Hootie & the Blowfish right before they blew up,” Lamble said. “When they reopened [as Acme Bar], I mentored under my dad’s friend Larry Walker, and he turned over the reins. I started booking the club, and we opened with The Band in 1994. Everybody was there but Robbie Robertson. That was the beginning. The live component was what really spoke to me.”

When he launched Ear For Music in 1997, he became head booker for Wild Wing Café, handling the band schedules and gig details for the company’s 18 locations from Virginia down to Florida.

“It was a cool circuit for regional bands to cruise and gain a following and get paid well and be taken care of,” Lamble said. “That was a long run we had with those guys.”

Lamble recalled some highlights, such as working with 96 WaveFest in Brittlebank Park and booking now five-time Grammy Award winning musician Keb’ Mo’ at Charleston Music Hall in 1997. Another major moment was watching the BBC follow legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock as part of a documentary project when Ear For Music booked Hancock at Charleston Music Hall in 2002.

Rewinding even further, Lamble said some of the first inklings of his love for live music surfaced when he was around 12 and got into classic rock, playing guitar and a bit of drums. Then he started exploring the origins of hip-hop music and became immersed in the breakdance movement in junior high and high school in Salisbury.

“I dove in head first and spent countless hours practicing from 1983 to 1987,” he said. “I was in several crews during that time span and landed paying gigs at local clubs and bars in North Carolina. The last group I was in was the Empire Crew and we ended up on a popular Saturday morning TV dance show called Let’s Dance! It was stellar.”

How it’s going now

Lamble said 2022 was a really good year for the Charleston music circuit, reflecting a larger shift in the local scene as a whole. Not only are venues lending themselves to better opportunities, he said, but now there are more major marquee venues.

“I think the venue landscape changed,” he said. “We have more options that are attractive to bands. I think the growth in our area has lent itself to more of a buyer’s market where we’re able to do 30 to 50 shows a year and not have to worry about ticket sales. Whereas back in the late ’90s and early 2000s, you didn’t know if you could do 2,000 to 4,000 people on a headliner-name artist. All of that is starting to shift.”

It’s all about making sure that when touring bands come through town, they want to come back.

“Artist relations, to me, are just as important as ticket sales,” he said. “When the bands come in, we want them to have a great experience. We urge them to take a day on the front or the back end [of the show], and we try to curate an experience for them to enjoy.”

Ear for Music’s Safe Sounds concept, which incorporated social distancing and outdoor settings, was a major propeller for Charleston music as it hung on in the pandemic and hosted 72 shows from June 2020 through October 2021. It was one of the first pod show concert concepts in the country, Lamble said.

“Even though the pandemic was so scary, I felt like we needed to unify everybody again and make people feel comfortable,” he said. “And that was a format and platform we could do it with. And then also, [it was] putting all of our industry back to work — all the way from photographers to sound engineers to stage [technicians].”

Now it feels like it’s all full-speed ahead, he said.

“I am looking forward to just having a year where everyone’s ready to get back to coming out and enjoying it and not having to worry about all of the things that are going on in the world — taking the time to enjoy life and enjoy music and enjoy the outdoors.”

THE LOWDOWN ON ROB LAMBLE

Age: 52.

Birthplace: Charleston, S.C.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C.

Current profession: Owner, Ear For Music.

Past professions of interest: Acting, marine biology.

Family: My wife Erika. Fur baby Penny Jane, a black and tan coonhound.

Something people would be surprised to learn about you: I used to be a professional breakdancer.

Favorite thing to do outside of work: Play golf.

Your passion: Music.

Books on bedside table: The Music Never Stops, by Peter Shapiro, and Time Is Tight, by Booker T. Jones.

Favorite novel: Bid Time Return, by Richard Matheson.

Favorite food to eat: Thai.

Favorite food to cook: Southern cuisine.

Favorite cocktail or beverage: Don Julio 1942 tequila.

Five foods you always need in your refrigerator: Milk, eggs, cheese, cold cuts, bacon.

People (alive or dead) you’d like to dine with: Promoter Bill Graham, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and all my family and friends that are no longer with us all at one table.

What meal would you want served to you for your last supper: Seafood gumbo with cornbread and jambalaya.

Something that you have too much of at home: T-shirts.

Hobbies: Golf, snow/water skiing and mountain hiking.

Secret vice: Buying vinyl records.

Favorite musicians: Duane Allman (classic), Billy Strings and Maggie Rose (current) and Johnny Mac (local).

Describe your best day in 50 words or less: “Waking up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, jumping in the car with my wife and dog, cruising the Blue Ridge Parkway and going on a hike together.”

Childhood hero: Steve Austin (The Bionic Man).

Pet peeve: Bad drivers.

Philosophy: Surround yourself with good people and you will get good results.

Your advice for better living: Take a moment for yourself every day.

Your advice for someone new to Charleston: Be kind and it will come back to you tenfold.

Photos by Rūta Smith

Collections of photos, posters and music paraphenalia are on display throughout the home.

Valentine’s Day gift-giving tips from a local florist

By Toni Reale

Valentine’s Day is the second busiest sales season of the year at Roadside Blooms with Mother’s Day being first. We see it all during this holiday — from couples exchanging symbols of romantic love and parents giving their children of all ages something to show they care to friends exchanging gifts of gratitude. Even if Valentine’s Day is a “Hallmark holiday,” it still brings a considerable amount of joy. So why not lean in?

Here are some tips to help you make thoughtful choices this holiday for your loved ones.

Choose a florist committed to ethical and sustainable business practices

Did you know that more than 80% of all flowers used in America for anything from funerals to weddings are imported from other countries that have little to no labor or environmental laws? The global floral trade can be toxic for workers, local econo-

mies and the land in which they are grown. When choosing a florist, research its business practices. Does it source American and locally grown flowers and greens? Does it compost its weekly mounds of floral waste? Your money spent on this holiday (and yearround) should align with your values.

Friends don’t let friends dial 1-800-Flowers

Don’t use 1-800-Flowers or those types of wire services. Too often, these companies gouge florists who are members of their network to fulfill orders. Those affiliates take a considerable percentage of sales and after time, most florists ditch their memberships. Instead, order directly from the flower shop and cut out the middleman. You’ll get better customer service, a better product and you’ll be supporting your local florist.

Ditch the dozen roses

Contrary to popular belief, women don’t like receiving a dozen roses. Most women would agree that they are cheesy and a bit overplayed on Valentine’s Day — especially when they know there are much better and more creative floral options out there. We never offer a dozen roses because there’s just no creativity in the design and, frankly, there are much prettier flowers than standard roses.

No matter where you order from, always ask for what “Designer’s Choice,” which allows the designer to pick the prettiest blooms. At Roadside Blooms, we only do designer’s choice because it gives us creative freedom which 100% of the time leads to a more beautiful and unique arrangement. It also feeds the creative hearts of the designer which fuels innovation and workplace happiness.

Men deserve flowers, too

I’ve written about this before and I stand by my claim that it’s a damned shame that most men receive their first gift of flowers at their funeral. It’s time to change the outdated narrative that flowers are not for men. Not only do men deserve to enjoy the earth’s bounty, but they also deserve to be appreciated and loved. Studies have shown

that men that receive flowers are more open and communicative; they feel safe and seen by their partners.

Don’t be anonymous

In this day and age, it’s not cute or romantic to send anonymous gifts. It’s downright creepy. Instead, write a short but meaningful message that will make the recipient’s heart swell.

Remember that gift-giving is for the sender too. It feels good to be able to express admiration for someone no matter how you choose to show it this Valentine’s Day.

Toni Reale is the owner of Roadside Blooms, a unique plant, flower, crystal and fossil shop in Park Circle in North Charleston. roadsidebloomsshop.com

Gettyimages.com

Be more creative with giving flowers: The “dozen red roses” thing is totally played out.

Reale