Andy Mckee

We all aspire to reach the very pinnacle of our professions and to realize our dreams we work tirelessly day and night. One of such people is Andy McKee, a soulful fingerstyle guitarist who has shot to the top of the industry through sheer dedication and hard work. Like all famous people he also struggled a bit during his early years but once he got going he never looked back. Millions of his fans buy Andy McKee tickets and sell-out venues everywhere this favorite guitarist of theirs goes to perform.
 
Andy McKee was born on 4^th April, 1979 at Topeka, Kansas. His love for guitars began when his father bought him a classical guitar as a gift on his thirteenth birthday. Andy started playing to perfect it by dedicating hours a day to hone his talents. Soon afterwards he got his first electric guitar which took his talents a step further when he started copying and playing the music of his idols of that time Eric Johnson, Dream Theater, Joe Satriani and Metallica. It was his sixteenth birthday that was to prove a very important day of his life. One of his cousins took Andy McKee to meet and watch another guitarist Preston Reed perform at a music clinic. That performance opened Andy's eyes to a whole new world of music. Andy then bought an instructions video manual composed by Reed to learn from. He would spend long hours teaching himself new and different guitar playing techniques by going through that manual by Reed. That was also the time when he started getting influenced by the music played by people like Don Ross, Billy McLaughlin and Michael Hedges whom Andy still regards as his major influence till today.
 
Andy McKee primarily just stuck to playing guitar only for quite a few years to perfect his guitar playing techniques. When he was twenty Andy started composing his own songs as well. In 2001 he took part in the National Fingerstyle Guitar Competition in Kansas and reached the third spot. It was that very same year when he, on his own, released his debut album titled 'Nocturne'.He went on a tour of Taiwan with Isato Nakagawa, Masaaki Kishibe and Jacques Stotzem in 2003 and got further fame and recognition. In 2004 Andy McKee released his second album titled 'Dreamcatcher' which contained songs liked 'Te Friend I Never Met' and 'Africa.' The former was a tribute to one of his major inspirations Michael Hedges.
 
'Art of Motion' was his third album which was released in 2005 by Candyrat Records. This album received a lot of acclaim from everyone. In 2006 Andy McKee hit the jackpot when he became a sensation on YouTube. 'Drifting' a song from 'Dreamcatcher' was posted on YouTube and it became such a sensation that it received over forty million views online. The YouTube success was followed by a very extensive tour for most part of 2007. This success turned Andy into a household name and he started working on his next album which was titled 'Gates of Gnomeria' and released in 2007. It had new songs including the self-titled which was released on YouTube before the official release of the album itself.
 
Andy McKee spent almost the entire 2008 touring different parts of the world with various artists and the exposure he got solidified his reputation as an amazing guitarist. Andy released his next album 'Joyland' in 2010 after another very long tour the previous year. The songs of the album were also uploaded to Andy's own YouTube channel and received enormous response from fans around the world.
 
Andy McKee is hailed as one of the greatest guitarist of his era. His works have earned him over one hundred million views on YouTube and he has also been at the number one, two and three spots for the most viewed and top rated videos of all time. His talents and success has created a huge fan following for him around the world which has helped him perform at over two hundred shows a year around the globe. Andy McKee tickets are must have's for everyone who want to watch this amazing performer turn their evening into an event that they won't soon forget.