Andy McKee
Andy McKee ( born April 4, 1979 in Topeka, Kansas ) is an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer.
Biography
For his 13th birthday Andy McKee was given by his father his first guitar, a classical guitar. Not much later he started playing electric guitar and chose to cover pieces of his former favorite bands ( Metallica, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Dream Theater ). On his 16th birthday, a cousin took him to a workshop of the guitarist Preston Reed with, the most important event in Andy McKee's career as a fingerstyle guitarist. He discovered the music of the three known acoustic guitarist Michael Hedges, Don Ross, and Billy McLaughlin, which he now called his most important musical influences.
Music career
By composing his own pieces Andy McKee began at the age of 20 years. He had his first international appearances in 2003 on tour in Taiwan, later followed by performances in Japan, China, Belgium, England, Germany, Canada and Luxembourg. After his label Candy Council Records released the end of 2006 videos on YouTube, McKee became very popular within a short time. A music video, in which he plays Drifting, is among the 100 most popular videos on Youtube (as of 16 May 2011 ). 2007 McKee worked with Josh Groban's Christmas album Noël on. On this Grammy -nominated album, he contributed the guitar parts for the song Little Drummer Boy. Recorded in Malibu, California, Noël in the U.S. best-selling album of 2007. In 2012, McKee participated as guest at Prince's Welcome 2 Australia tour in Australia.
Awards
2001 Andy McKee finished with the traditional competition National Fingerstyle Guitar Competition in Winfield, Kansas, the annual Walnut Valley Festival, the youngest participant who has ever managed in the top three, third place. In 2003 he assigned his Harp Guitar In another competition, the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships, various acoustic instruments in the category the first place. With the title song from his CD Dreamcatcher (2004, Andy McKee ), he won the opportunity of a stage appearance with bassist Michael Manring at a competition.