By Albert H. Fulcher
Editor of EC Californian
When Chris Hamilton sings, his voice slices through the air with muscle and conviction, and his lyrics, pierce your heart. Emily Ridings’ clear high register and somewhat sultry lower tones is a compliment not only to his music, but as his partner in life. These two, along with Richard Smith on the Dobro and Ian Belmondo on the harmonica, make up Valor and Lace, a homegrown joy to listen to.
By Albert H. Fulcher
Editor of EC Californian
When Chris Hamilton sings, his voice slices through the air with muscle and conviction, and his lyrics, pierce your heart. Emily Ridings’ clear high register and somewhat sultry lower tones is a compliment not only to his music, but as his partner in life. These two, along with Richard Smith on the Dobro and Ian Belmondo on the harmonica, make up Valor and Lace, a homegrown joy to listen to.
Hamilton is a retired Marine sniper, and every member of the band is a veteran. Valor and Lace is paving its way through the local music industry, with a determination and collaboration that has deep roots in love, courage and hope.
But unlike many musicians, Hamilton did not spend his life reaching for fame and glory with music. Music came to him, as a saving grace in his life.
Hamilton lived the country life growing up on a ranch in a little town outside of Waco, Texas. He joined the Marine Corps in 2007. After spending time in Kings Bay, Georgia, he came back to San Diego and worked for two years to enter sniper school. By 2012 he was in the Kajacki District in the east of Helmand Province, Afghanistan as a team leader in support of ongoing combat operations. It was then, that something happened that would shape the rest of his life.
“Lost one of our buddies to an IED (improvised explosive device), and a lot of other things happened that day, and it’s something that you just cannot ever forget.” he said. “One minute someone is here, and the next minute someone is not. And it’s not really that, it is in the way that it happens. His body was severely mangled beyond what anybody could possibly imagine.”
Hamilton admits that living through the tragedy of combat was beyond difficult.
“I shouldn’t be here today, and a lot of other guys shouldn’t be here today either, but we are. That’s the way the cards fell, the way God wanted it I guess,” he said.
In the aftermath of horror, Hamilton admitted to experiencing severe anxiety, nightmares, and screaming. After two tours in Afghanistan, he returned home, but he could not go out in public without being heavily medicated. Treatment after treatment only turned his anxiety into depression. He knew, after coming back from war, nothing else in life would be that cool.
“That’s a thing with PTSD, you’ll never be this cool again,” he said. “It’s true to an extent in some of the things that you do and deal with, but it is hard to deal with when you think about what you wish you could have done and the guilt that comes with it. Like if I did this, he would still be here today, even though you don’t have control over a lot of those things. But every Marine, every grunt, every infantryman kind of feels like they are Superman and it is our destiny to protect each other. That’s what we do and why we have been so successful. You are fighting for your country, but really while you are there you are fighting for each other. It’s a bond that will never goes away.”
After spending two years going through group and individual therapies, he joined a music therapy program at the Wounded Warrior Battalion. “From that point on, it completely changed my life, my mood and my outlook on everything changed,” he said.
“Dedication… hard work, it’s whatever you do that makes you happy,” he said. Hamilton is a huge advocate for music therapy because the music did more for him than any of the medications did.
Scientifically, music has the power to change your emotions and it’s a proven fact, he said. Music transmits through the same neurotransmitters that everyday emotions do. And they can alter your emotions to whatever kind of music you are listening to, he said. “And that is powerful.”
Then met Emily Ridings, an Alpine woman that ricocheted his personal life and musical career in a new and more focused direction. He found she could sing and he saw no reason for them not to take this journey together. That’s when Valor and Lace was born. “It’s perfect, because everyone in the band is a veteran, and she, she’s the lace,” he said affectionately.
Ridings said they write well together and are happy with the original music they are now producing which comes pretty natural and easy.
Hamilton said where he is in life right now is so different than when he retired in 2015. He said, “You miss it, the guys, the camaraderie, but life goes on.”
Together, Hamilton and Ridings are a country man from Texas, and an Alpine woman that make country music a centerpiece of their talents, but they don’t allow themselves to be stuck in a certain genre, as their creative writing sometimes leans towards pop, and blues. “Every song we have come out with has been different,” said Hamilton.
“Ultimately, I think that is what it is all about. It’s a growing thing and something we both love to do and we hope to continue to do this.”
Valor and Lace play at the Lakeside Carter-Smith VFW Post 5867 every first Wednesday of the month, on special occasions and various venues in the county.
Memorial Day weekend is a special time for them. Valor and Lace is playing the Team Darkhorse and Nellie Gail Ranch Showcase for Valor on Friday, May 27 to benefit 3/5 Darkhorse Marines.
Hamilton is honored for the invitation, and is looking forward to sharing his life with other Marines that may need to hear what he has to say, and show them that there is life beyond PTSD.
And Lace, she’s got his back.
To find more about Valor and Lace, find out where they are performing you can find them at www.valorandlace.com, REVERBNATION, YouTube and www.facebook.com/Valor_and_Lace.
