Gabe Fleet has a weekend love.

A University student Monday through Friday, Fleet doubles as a
drummer for the Chris McCarty Band, based out of Tallahassee,
Fla.

“We’re on the road a lot,” Fleet said. “We play on weekends,
breaks, as much as possible.”

With members throughout the Southeast, the geographic makeup
of the group may seem impractical.

But all the members insist that the lineup is a necessary part to
the band’s chemistry.

“I find because of how much we love each other, we are better now
because we have such a good time off-stage,” said frontman
Chris McCarthy. “We are sharing so much of ourselves and we are
playing so much better.”

Fleet and bassist Greg Riddle played together in a high school
band in Florida.

Fleet made the decision to come to the University, while Riddle
stayed south at the University of Florida.

While at Florida, Riddle met up with aspiring singer/songwriter
Chris McCarty and the two began playing acoustic shows around
the Southeast.

The two found a musical compatibility in each other incomparable
to any previous experience.

“I’ve been in other bands before but nothing like these guys, as far
as musical ability,” McCarty said.

Fleet began playing with the band part-time but now has become
such an integral part of the musical process, that the others are
slowing down their career path to ensure he is included.

“It’s really important for us to have Gabe in the band, he’s a really
hard-worker,” McCarty said. “We are willing to slow down to wait for
Gabe, to make sure it works out.”

This spring, Fleet will relocate to Tallahassee, along with
McCarty’s brother, Phil. The group predicts Phil will add to the
already strong group cohesion.

“When we all get together, something really magical is going to
come about,” McCarty said.

Fleet describes their music as acoustic-based college rock with a
motown and hip-hop influence.

According to McCarty, the diverse lineup of the group affects the
band’s unique sound.

With hip-hop now a major player in the music industry, the Chris
McCarty Band’s timing as a rock-hop hybrid could not be more
perfect.

McCarty chalks this aspect of the band up as luck, insisting it is
only playing the music of its generation.

“We didn’t plan (the hip-hop element), I didn’t plan being black,”
McCarty said. “But it’s fitting because we all grew up with that.”