His fingers stretch across the tight strings for the fifth time as he tries out different chord patterns in order to find a note that sounds perfect for his newest song. He lifts his hand and wipes his brow and begins to sing along to his music, thinking of new lyrics along the way. He quickly stops to jot down the lyrics he just came up with on a scratch piece of paper in front of him that is filled with emotions and personal thoughts. This is only the creation of one of Senior Garrett Appling’s many original songs that he writes with the intention to perform.

Appling has been fascinated with music since he can remember. He has been writing his own lyrics since he was nine years old and he got his first guitar at 11 years old. He hopes in the future to become even more involved in music and perform at various places.

“I found out pretty early that I could sing, so I started putting more of my time towards music,” Appling said. “I bought a guitar and started teaching myself to play by watching different musicians like John Mayer and Keith Urban.”

Appling said although he started writing at a young age, his lyrics have only been understandable for the past couple of years. Since then, Appling has performed in the school talent show and The 806.

“I want to play at The 806 again and I’m sure I’ll probably [perform in] the talent show again,” Appling said. “Any other opportunities that come up I am going to jump on [too].”

Appling said his least favorite thing about creating his own music is when he experiences a writer’s block that lasts for weeks or even months.  To get rid of writer’s block, Appling said he usually plays his guitar, but sometimes it’s best to wait for it to pass with time.

“[Also] the stage fright [I get] from playing in front of a ton of people is so nerve racking,” Appling said. “For example, the talent show was one of the scariest things I have ever done.”

Videos of Appling’s music can be found on his personal page on Facebook. Appling said in the future he would love to take his music as far as possible and he hopes to get signed by a record label sometime in the near future.

“Even if that never happens though, I am going to be happy playing music for whoever, wherever,” Appling said. “Whether it’s in front of a stadium full of people or in a coffee house, it’s what I love to do.”

Appling’s overall goals are to reach as many people as possible through his music and give people the same feeling of inspiration that music has given him. Appling also said he has used music as a way of coping through difficult situations ever since he’s realized he possessed the talent.

“[My favorite thing] is the feeling I get whenever I put two completely different sounds together and it comes out completely different that I expected,” Appling said. “The best part is all the passion and emotion that goes into the creative process of writing music.”