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Love For Country Music Keeps Marine In Spotlight
(November 22, 2008) |
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Staff Sgt. Chris Lozano, platoon commander,
Grizzly Mobile, Regimental Combat Team 5, plays guitar and sings
"Watching Airplanes," a Gary Allan song, at Camp Ripper, Iraq, Nov.
17. As vocalist for the Chris Lozano Band, the self-taught musician
has gone from a hobbyist to a professional musician with a solid
following of country music fans in Southern California. |
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CAMP RIPPER, Iraq
November 21, 2008Some popular
country music artists have made their appreciation for the military
known by playing USO shows in the Middle East.
Despite their support, however, not many of the
musicians can say they've actually served in the military. There is
one rising Southern California country singer, though, who can say
he's not only an active-duty Marine, but he's also currently
deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Chris Lozano, platoon commander for
“Grizzly Mobile,” Regimental Combat Team 5's mobile assault platoon,
is in the midst of a deployment to Iraq, so his band, the aptly named Chris Lozano
Band, is temporarily left without a vocalist. |
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“My band knew it was going to happen sometime or another,”
said Lozano, 29, who is from Paonia, Colo. “I was really happy when I found out
I was going to deploy, but I plan on going back, getting back in the band
(mindset) and having fun.”
The Chris Lozano Band plays mostly country covers and originals, but has fun
with the set list by adding some Southern rock. The band can deftly switch gears
from boot-gazing ballads to rollicking honky-tonk rockers or from classic outlaw
country to contemporary western pop.
“I'm very fortunate that the musicians in the band are some of the best in
Southern California,” Lozano said. “A lot of the musical talent I've learned I
have to give credit to these guys I play with.”
Lozano and his band have played hundreds of gigs at Southern California venues,
from the Swallows Inn in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., to as far north as the
Cadillac Ranch in Apple Valley, Calif. The band has steadily cultivated a strong
following, and at the band's final pre-deployment show in Long Beach, Calif.,
fans came from as far away as Arizona and Las Vegas.
All the performances may have never happened, though, if Lozano hadn't picked up
a pawn shop guitar and taught himself to play chords and rhythm at his first
duty station with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, at Marine Corps Base
Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, in 1998.
A natural singer, Lozano sang in the show choir at Paonia High School, but he
really didn't expect to go anywhere with music. A young, newly married Marine in
the late ‘90s, Lozano and his wife, Tiffany, would go to karaoke bars, where he
would win the $100 nightly prize, which often helped with the groceries. Beyond
providing food for the table, though, this modest success planted the seeds of
inspiration, leading Lozano to realize he could be successful pursuing music as
a serious hobby.
“That's when I first thought that doing more with music could be good,” Lozano
said.
After changing duty stations and serving as an instructor at the School of
Infantry at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Lozano joined what he
called a garage band for an outlet for his singing.
He then joined 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, and deployed with the 31st Marine
Expeditionary Unit. The battalion returned and came up on deployment time again,
but Lozano was not able to go for medical reasons.
“It brought me down, bad,” Lozano said. “My wife said, ‘Why don't you get a band
together again and get your head straight?'”
After meeting with different musicians and playing with different lineups, the
Chris Lozano Band took hold with Sean Brass on keyboards, Steve Adams on bass,
Danny Ciarfalia on lead guitar and Phil Roach playing the drums while Lozano
plays rhythm acoustic guitar and sings. Lozano's band has an experienced resume,
playing in the past with such acts as Keith Urban, Toby Keith and Gary Allan, to
name a few.
“We just started playing little shows,” Lozano said, “but we got rolling, and
before I deployed, we were averaging about 15 to 20 shows a month.”
The band likes the response they get from the crowds, but the hard work and long
nights really pay off for them when the crowd requests one of their originals.
“Chris' unique sound and stage presence rounds out a group of stellar musicians
who together have people clamoring to hear his music,” said Brass, 42, a Covina,
Calif., resident who has played at the famous Gilley's nightclub in Las Vegas.
“(Fans) always ask me to tell him that they miss his singing.”
Lozano got word that he'd deploy with RCT-5 and, though he was enjoying the
success of the band, it was a great opportunity for him to fulfill his other
passion of being a Marine.
“Something always appealed to me about the Marines and about the infantry,” said
Lozano. “I love the Marine Corps, and I can see myself going the master gunnery
sergeant route.
“They put me with a bunch of guys who are phenomenal at their job,” Lozano said
of the Marines with Grizzly Mobile. “I couldn't ask for a better job or a better
position. I've learned a lot from the younger Marines and have been given the
chance to lead them.”
In the meantime, the band members have been playing shows with other musicians
to pass the time while Lozano is deployed, but they have been supportive of his
military commitments and are patiently awaiting his return from serving in
western al-Anbar province.
“Although we'd love to be performing right now with Chris, the band is extremely
proud to have him serving his country in the Marine Corps,” said Brass, who's
got family ties with Marines, and Adams, who has played numerous USO shows
overseas. “We all believe in the importance of (service members) serving our
country and think that there is nothing more honorable.”
In the meantime, the band has been lining up performance dates for Lozano's
return.
“It wasn't my goal at all to get this big with music,” Lozano said. “It's
something I just started as a hobby, but it's been a real fun ride and I plan to
keep performing. I feel at home on the stage; it's very relaxing for me. When
you have four guys like these talented, phenomenal musicians playing music with
you, it's awesome.” | |
Article and photo by USMC Sgt. M. Trent Lowry
Regimental Combat Team 5
Copyright 2008
Reprinted
from
U.S. Marine Corps Web Site
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