Thursday, May 10, 2007
Kansas has watched Topeka native Andy McKee develop into one of the most virtuosic fingerstyle guitarists around in recent years. McKee was the youngest competitor to ever finish in the top three at the Fingerstyle Guitar Championship in Winfield in 2001, and he finished first in the 2004 Kansas Fingerstyle Guitar Competition. Recently, he’s gained international attention with his performances overseas and from music videos on YouTube; McKee’s original compositions and arrangements are among the highest rated music videos on the site.
q: How did youtube get things rolling for you?
There’s a guy running my label that had the idea to show me performing online. My song “Drifting” started getting a lot of attention and eventually YouTube decided to put it on their front page. It really just blew up crazy. In the past couple of weeks a few of my other videos passed “Drifting” and now I have all of the top three spots. This really-huge-breakout sort of thing is just unique for a guitar player and someone on an indie label. The fact that it went to the front page is unbelievable.
q: You’ve been playing far from home for a couple of years. Where have you gone?
Originally I got an e-mail in 2003 from a publishing company in Taiwan. They offered to publish transcriptions of my music in Taiwan and China and promote a tour over there. Since then I’ve played in Japan, Belgium, England, Canada, Germany and Austria.
q: You had the opportunity to play on Carson Daly’s show a few months ago. What was That like?
I never really got into his show. Personally, I always thought it was kind of lame, but he really dug my music and was super nice. The whole thing was a result of the YouTube stuff; he’d seen my videos and just wanted to see me on his show.
Andy McKee’s new album Gates of Gnomeria will be released in August.
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