Andy McKee is one of the world's finest acoustic soloists. After receiving over
20 million views collectively for his Youtube videos which were posted by the
independent record label "Candyrat", Andy's success is a testament to the
changing nature of the music industry as well as people's desire for something
new and interesting to listen to. At one point, Andy held the #1, #2 and #3
positions for Top-Rated Videos of All Time on the hugely popular website. His
videos are still among the highest rated on Youtube. Consequently, Andy has
performed to sold out shows in all over the world.
After starting with
an interest in electric guitar, Andy turned to the acoustic guitar at the age of
16 and began enjoying and studying the music of Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Billy
McLaughlin and Preston Reed. To this day he still sites these four musicians as
his primary influences in acoustic music. At the same time, Andy draws
inspiration from various other musicians and groups such as; Earth Wind and
Fire, The Yellowjackets, Bjork, Imogen Heap, Pantera, Eric Johnson, Peter
Gabriel, Dream Theater, Bruce Hornsby, and many others.
While there are
countless amazing guitar players in the world, it is Andy's attention to song
structure and melodic content that elevates him above the typical guitarist. It
can be observed that Andy likes to try different things with the guitar such as;
altered tunings, partial capos, percussive hits, and tapping. But in the hands
of Andy these are not mere parlor tricks, they are compositional tools used to
create some of the finest crafted music for the steel string acoustic guitar.