Christian Sheets’ (‘14) band Kickback is exactly what it sounds like: a group of friends who relax and play music just because they love it.

In Kickback, Christian plays guitar and sings. Christian started playing when he was 11.

“I started because a lot of my friends were starting to play,” Christian said. “I had played piano before, but I gave up on it and I wanted to start playing another instrument so I picked up the guitar.”

For Christian, his simple love for music made guitar click, and he has been playing ever since.

“I just really love playing music, and I love to play music with other people,” Christian said.

Christian started out playing duos with friend and band mate Zach Piner when they were both in 9th grade. Then, this past summer Ryan Patterson and Chris Peele joined, and Kickback was formed.

The band is comprised of Christian as a vocalist and guitarist, Chris on the drums, Ryan playing bass, and Zach also as a vocalist and guitarist.

“They are my best friends,” Christian said. “We bicker sometimes but at the end of the day we are really good friends.”

All of Christian’s band mates go to North Stafford, but they do not let this affect their friendships.

“We get to see each other on the weekends and after school a lot, so not going to the same school isn’t really a bad thing,” Christian said.

Kickback’s first major gig was at Bella’s Cafe (date). Since then they have also played at The Anna Cabana, a North Stafford tailgate, and the Journalism Coffee House back in December.

“We had played a few open mic nights at Bella’s Cafe and then after one of them the owner came and asked us if we wanted to play a full show there. I was extremely happy,” Christian said.

Kickback plays a wide assortment of cover music, as well as their own original songs.

“Our originals are a mixture between like soft-rock/acoustic and reggae,” Christian said.

Their original titles include “Spring Break”, “I’m Gonna Get There”, “Swim with Me”, “Bird of a Feather”, “Through the Storm” and, “The Way it Goes”.

“Zach and I write the songs separately, he has songs he wrote I have ones I wrote. We only write the guitar and the lyrics and then Chris and Ryan will make their parts on drums and bass,” Christian said.

Christian wrote “Through the Storm” by himself. He gets inspiration from Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, and Sublime, as well as his personal life. Through the Storm came to Christian during Hurricane Sandy.

“I was just looking outside at the rain and wind and it just came to me,” Christian said.

Christian hopes to carry his love for music further into his life.

“I would like to make a career out of it if I could, if not performing doing something related to music like recording, managing, owning a guitar store, something like that,” Christian said.