Andy McKee
OMN sat down with acoustic guitar virtuoso Andy McKee prior to his December 10 concert before a near-capacity crowd at Portland’s Aladdin Theater. Punctuated by strong performances of favorites like “Hunter’s Moon” and his classic arrangement of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” McKee played a fluid set featuring cuts from his latest EP, “Mythmaker,” while fielding requests from an engaged and vocal audience.
On the record for nearly half an hour, the affable guitarist freely touched on a variety of topics, including his love for classic metal and the near-mythical account of his meteoric and delightfully inadvertent ascent to international renown. McKee was also game for sharing stories from his young career, recalling an impromptu performance that stunned Dream Theater guitar-deity John Petrucci as well as Prince’s hidden talent.
Can you tell me your earliest musical memory or recollection? When I was a little kid, I used to run around to the William Tell Overture when my parents would play it [laughs]. Do you remember anything like that?
Lets see – I guess my only one would be like Earth Wind and Fire. My mom had a live VHS cassette of them doing their show. And I remembered it because they were doing things like a big stage presentation and they had costume changes and stuff. The music was so groovy. You know, I must’ve been like four years old – maybe five or something like that. So that’s an early one that I could say that I can pull out of the memory.
So do you come from a pretty musical family?
As far as listening to music, you know – everybody was really into listening. But nobody played any instruments in my family.
Oh interesting. So your folks had more of an appreciation for good music – they were the parents with a good record collection or something like that. What was always on in your house growing up, if you can remember?
Yeah! You know, classic rock from my Dad’s side. He was really into all the classic rock stuff. Crosby Stills and Nash was one of his favorites; the Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin.
The good stuff.
Yeah, yeah. And my mom was into that too, but she was also into Earth Wind and Fire. And then in the 80s, she got into different things. I had an older sister, you know, so she was into the 80s rock stuff.
And that’s what your interest in that grew out of. So when you started getting on the guitar, they were pretty encouraging?
Yeah, they weren’t expecting me to become a guitar player, I don’t think.
No parent probably does [laughs].
Yeah [laughs]. But they were happy to get me one for my birthday. Because I didn’t really have an affinity for sports. My Dad was heavily involved in sports. And we would try baseball and things, you know, and it just wasn’t really my thing. So, I think they were happy to see that I’d found something.
What first drew you to the guitar, if you can remember? Was it a specific song or a solo?
Sure, yeah – it would be Cliffs of Dover from Eric Johnson.
No kidding.
Yeah, I heard it on the radio when I was 12 years old. And, you know, I’d already been into music as far as I really liked listening to music a lot, and I had a bunch of cassettes and everything. But I never really wanted to play the guitar. It didn’t strike me as something to even try. But when I heard that, I was just so blown away. I’d never heard anyone play like that, where the guitar pretty much took the place of the lyrics and it was just an instrumental guitar piece. And he has such a great sense of melody, you know, and that’s what really hit me. So it was like, I wanted to play guitar and I was suddenly into instrumental music at the same time.
And so it sort of coalesced.
Yeah – and at the exact same time. So that was the one. And I got the cassette for that album and then asked my Dad for a guitar for Christmas.
Do you remember what kind of a guitar it was?
Yeah, it was an Aria. It was a nylon string, and just a used guitar that somebody had at the pawn shop.
That’s good enough.
Yeah, something to get started on, you know? And that was it.
What was the first song you learned that you really nailed and got excited about?
I guess it would be Enter Sandman from Metallica.
Oh really?
Yeah [laughs].
For me it was the solo from Crazy Train. That tapping lick – I learned that and I was like “Oh, I’m the man!”
[Laughs] “My friends are going to flip out!”
I’ve read that you were into instrumental rock and then metal a lot, right? Like Metallica and Dream Theater, I think. Were there some others?
Yeah, I was into Iron Maiden and Metallica before I played guitar. You know, before I heard Cliffs of Dover. I was already into those bands. But on the rock side, some of the other ones would be like Pantera. I really liked them a lot.
And what else back then? I also got into Joe Satriani. As far as the guitar guys, you know, those are kind of my main ones.
But there’s this whole other side to your musicality that’s hinted at by the covers you’ve done. You know, like 80s pop – and pop generally. Who else were you into in that respect?
Yeah, like the 80s stuff. Generally, you know, Toto and Tears for Fears. And some of the other ones, like Talking Heads and Peter Gabriel and The Police. Just all that stuff from back then. And actually, Andy Summers was a guitar player that kind of opened my eyes to some different chordal-type stuff.
So you’re into Pantera and Metallica and all this stuff. When do you decide to pick up an acoustic guitar? Is there, again, a specific moment? Was it Hedges? Was it something else?
Well, I actually had an older cousin who moved back to Kansas shortly after I started playing guitar. He’s a guitar player, actually. And so he would show me tricks and things. And he was way into Eddie Van Halen, so I learned a lot of Eddie’s stuff from him. But actually, on my 16th birthday, he took me to a guitar clinic that was going on in Topeka, Kansas, where I’m from. I was like, “Sure, why not?” It was for a guitar player by the name of Preston Reed.
And, you know, I didn’t know anything about him and my cousin didn’t know anything about him, really. And he was like “Yeah, let’s go check it out.” So, I saw him and was just so blown away. I couldn’t believe that that was even possible on the acoustic guitar.
Right. So was it kind of the technical side of that that was very compelling to you? That’s what drew you in at first?
Yeah, seeing just all the possibilities of what you can do on the acoustic guitar. You know, and for me, it was, you know, “Dust in the Wind [laughs].”
That was my perception of a steel-string acoustic guitar. And so, you know, seeing that just totally blew my mind. At home that night, I tried to emulate some of the stuff he was doing, not knowing that he was in an altered tuning.
Really? So did you just kind of develop those skills by ear?
No, no – not really. I went home that night, and it was a total wreck [laughs]. I couldn’t figure out how he was doing slap harmonics, and I was like “How’d that work? It sounds like shit on my guitar [laughs].” I didn’t know he was in a different tuning in the first place.
About a year went by, and then I started teaching guitar lessons when I was 17. When I started doing that, they actually had a Preston Reed VHS cassette there. A year had gone by, and I saw that, and I was like “Oh my god, I’ve got to buy that.” So, you know, I took it home and learned like three of his songs from there. And that helped a lot.
And that’s what broke down some of the unknowns for you?
Yeah. And so I bought some of his albums and then kind of learned from ear from that point. But first, just getting some of the techniques and ideas behind it first helped a lot from the video. So yeah, he’s the guy.
Preston Reed
So that was your gateway – it was Preston Reed. I always associate that style with Michael Hedges.
Oh, yeah. Maybe a year after that – or maybe not even that – I got a VHS cassette. I was actually going through a bunch of Guitar Player magazines that that same cousin had given me. He was kind of a collector. He’s got like 500 issues, that he just gave to me. I was going through them, and on the cover of one of them was Michael Hedges with a harp guitar. And I was like, “Whoa! Who’s this? What’s this?”
I opened it up, and there’s one of these tear out records in there that you could put on. And so he was playing “Because It’s There” on the harp guitar. And I was just, again, like “Oh my god!” and went out and bought all the CDs I could find at Barnes and Noble, like “Taproot” and “Aerial Boundaries.” This was like 1996 or 7. Yeah – it was ‘97. He’s really my biggest influence as far as composition and everything from that. Preston was the initial gateway into that.
As we talked about earlier, we have a mutual friend in Andrew Gorny, who’s an immensely talented local guy. When I found out I was going to interview you, I actually reached out to him to see if he had any thoughts about you and things that people normally miss when they write about or interview you. We both thought that you have this real talent for composition that’s on par with your technical ability. I think that’s why, for instance, “Drifting” was such a big success.
Thanks, Andrew!
Andrew had said that you were good at establishing what he called a “full-band hierarchy” with your arrangements and such. Do you write like that deliberately? Is that kind of what you keep in mind? Or do ideas just flow and it’s something that comes naturally?
Yeah, I guess it’s the former of what you said there. I try to have a full-sounding piece on the guitar. You know, there’s nothing wrong with minimal stuff, too. I have a tune I wrote on the piano that’s on my new EP.
Yeah, I was just listening to that.
And that’s really just basic, you know? And it’s sort of just a melody in there without getting too crazy. But yeah, I mean, that was one thing that that drew me to this style – how you could have a really full-sounding composition just on the steel-string acoustic guitar.
And there’s something universal about acoustic music, you know? It resonates with everybody, as I think you saw with the sudden success of “Drifting” on YouTube in 2006. Talk about universal appeal – it has 50 million cumulative views and set a record. Just briefly, can you walk me through that time in your life?
Sure [laughs].
It sounds pretty amazing. What had your life been like before that? You were teaching guitar, and..?
Yeah, yeah. Like I mentioned earlier, I started teaching guitar when I was 17. And that was just kind of my job. I tried to go to college, but I only lasted a day. I dropped out of high school, too. I got my GED and just played guitar.
I was just a guitar teacher and I started to write some of my own compositions and stuff in my late teens and early 20s. And so, I thought, “Well, maybe one day I could be out as a performing guitar player, and that would be really cool.”
And that was the goal?
Yeah, I didn’t have a real solid plan [laughs].
I’d heard about some of these guitar competitions, and I thought, “Well, it sounds like people who do well – it kind of leads to things.” And so I tried this international fingerstyle guitar championship in 2001 and I got third place that year, and won a nice guitar. That led to a couple things. I went to Taiwan and got to play.
When I was touring there, I was with two Japanese guitar players and a Belgian guitar player. And those guys liked my music and they weren’t familiar with me before. But they said, “Why don’t you come out for a show?” So I played in Japan and Belgium. But then I would just go home and teach my 50 students a week. I was just living with my mom, you know, and totally trying to figure life out [laughs]. I was in my early 20s.
And so I did that, and I thought I’d try another one in Canada that was brand new, called the Canadian Guitar Festival. I thought it would be cool to do that. But another reason to go was that I knew Don Ross was going to be there. And he had been a huge influence for me. And I didn’t get to see him play and I didn’t get to meet him or anything, and I really wanted to do that, as well. So I said, “Alright, I’m gonna go do it.”
I did that competition and got second place – Don’s one of the judges at it. And so, we were talking, and he said he had me ranked number one on his card. You know, he said he just loved what I was doing, and I was like “Oh!” So that was great.
That must’ve been amazing.
Oh, it was just the best thing. I was kind of like “Oh, it would’ve been nice to win first place,” and then Don tells you, you know, this guy who -
Thought you were the best.
That made everything cool, you know? But that particular event led me to getting on a label called Candyrat Records.
And it was just this guy that liked Don Ross’s music and Don had just been dropped – well, the label that he was with, called Narada, was disbanded, so he didn’t have a label anymore. This guy, Rob Pollin, was like “This is our label – would you be on it?” And Don said, “Ok.” And that led to, “Who else should we put on?” and Don said “There’s this guy I just heard – Andy McKee.”
So I got on this Candyrat records thing. At this point, I had released a couple albums just by myself and was selling them in coffee shops in Topeka, Kansas, or at a random gig I might get.
And so, when I joined the label it was like “Let’s take some of your older tunes and we’ll release an album called ‘Art of Motion.’” So there were songs from my first album and that became “Art of Motion.” And we released that.
At this point, Don had decided to have me do shows with him. So, you know, I would go out for a couple weeks with him in playing Canada or Germany. We were doing some shows in America and we end up in Milwaukee with a show. And then we had a day off the next day. And that’s where the label’s based. Rob said, “Why don’t we shoot some videos? There’s this new website – YouTube – we put them up for free, man, and might get some new fans,” and “Alright..”
“Alright – sure, why not?”
[Laughs] Yeah, “Alright, sure.”
Exactly. Yeah, so we were just in his studio. Well, it was like a living room, really. And we just set up a microphone and a little room divider that looked kind of cool – a wooden thing – behind me and just shot eight videos and finished two more shows or something with Don Ross. Michael Manring was on the tour, and he was really great. And then I went back home and started teaching again. The videos got uploaded, and then I was just teaching my lessons and a student didn’t show up for his lesson. So I went on the computer at the music store and saw on the front page of YouTube, “Drifting” was there on the front page. I was like “What the hell? Oh my god!”
And I already knew something was kind of weird because I was selling tablatures on my website at that time, and I had like 30 orders that morning. And I was like “What the hell?” I had 30 orders in a month, maybe, normally. So I already had indications that something was kind of going on. And then I saw that and called Rob at the label and said “Dude, go to YouTube right now.” And he was just like “Well, you might want to come up, this might be something.” I was like, “Ok!” [laughs].
That must’ve been really something. That was sort of your Nirvana moment – where Dave Grohl said he was sleeping on his friend’s couch and he woke up the next day at 11 o’clock, and “So…Nevermind’s just gone platinum.” “Oh. Ok, cool…”
Oh, it was, man [laughs].
Click here to view the embedded video.
So have you always had a sense that you could make it even before this. Or was this truly a happy accident?
I definitely didn’t feel like I had a choice, I mean, as far as music was concerned. By the time I had already been playing for a year – when I was 14 years old – I knew I just loved playing guitar and music and I knew I wanted to do it somehow for a living. So, you know, my whole plan was just to teach lessons and I had these little things starting to build. And I just figured, you know, “maybe another decade of ‘keep building, building.’”
And the YouTube thing – suddenly I got offers to play, you know?
And it just went from there.
Yeah. And I stopped teaching lessons and have just been doing this the last seven years.
And here you are. Do you think that’s kind of the new paradigm for commercial success if you’re an original artist who’s not an industry-type, like a pop star or something like that? You just go directly to the people. Is that how it’s going to end up working for folks?
I think so. I feel lucky for sure on the YouTube front – that I got in early on, on that website. It wasn’t so huge. Because a few years ago now, they introduced Vevo. And Eminem – just every artist – Justin Bieber – everybody you can think of is on YouTube now. It’s not like it was. So, it might be a little bit harder to break out now. I don’t really know. Although, I have a friend, Jon Gomm, maybe you’re familiar with him?
Yeah, I know the name.
He’s had a lot of success on YouTube, too. And he sings and plays, but he plays amazingly on the acoustic guitar. So we have similar influences – Michael Hedges and all. And so, he’s kind of been taking off on some viral stuff on YouTube. So I think it’s still possible. I mean, it’s just a matter of people seeing it and then it just kind of organically happens, you know? As long as it gets seen, I guess.
That’s fair. Since your initial success, you’ve obviously released a number of albums and you’ve toured really extensively. Your touring has some included pretty significant runs with a rather impressive and diverse list of musicians, like Eric Johnson – who is one of my guitar heroes, too – Dream Theater, and then Prince! So how did all that stuff come about? Was that sort of the same thing – you just get a call one day, “So, this is Prince…[laughs]”
[Laughs] Pretty much. Actually, the Dream Theater thing is a little bit more interesting. Because even before I had any YouTube stuff – back in 2005, I think it was – they came to Kansas City, to a music store to do an in-store guitar clinic thing. And it just so happened that my friend owned the music store that John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy, the guitarist and the drummer, were going to be doing their clinic in. So he calls me up and says, “You want to go with me to the hotel and pick those guys up?” Because he knew I was a fan. And I was like “Yeah! Oh my god – hell yeah!”
So we go and pick them up. And as we’re driving to the music store, I mention that I’ve just been a fan forever but that I actually do acoustic guitar these days. And “Oh, cool, cool,” you know. I said, “You mind if I play you something when we get back there?” And they were like, “Yeah, sure. Ok.”
Oh, rad!
Yeah, it was cool, man. So John and Mike are there, and then I played “Drifting” for them. And John – I’ll never forget John saying, “That’s sick.” He said, “That’s sick, man!”
Wow! It’s like nothing would impress somebody who can play the guitar that well.
So, you know, I was just floored [laughs]. I had been listening to them for years at that point. And so, fast forward, like the YouTube thing happens and stuff, and I’m starting to get a little career. And I’m at the NAMM show and so is he – he’s signing at this Ernie Ball booth. And I wait in line to get up there and meet him and get an autograph and everything, and say “Hey man, my name’s Andy McKee.” And actually, he’s like “Andy McKee! Dude – I remember you! I was just showing my wife your videos.” And I was like “Cool! Oh, really?” I couldn’t believe he even remembered me, much less, you know, that [laughs].
But he gave me his email. So, in any case, about a couple years after that, I get an email from him asking if I wanted to open for them here in America – on the West Coast – and in Mexico. So we did that, and they had me open some shows in Asia for them, too.
But it was kind of cool how it was before the YouTube thing even happened – that little connection. And he remembered and everything. I couldn’t believe it.
Then the Prince thing – his management contacted me back in February of 2012. And so he saw me on YouTube. Particularly, he saw a song of mine called “Rylynn.” That was the one that he was really impressed with. And so, I went up to Paisley Park and met him and the band, and he was like, “This is just like what I thought it would be like, man.” So, he arranged some shows in Australia for me to be a special guest on. I just kind of played in a medley with the band, and opened most of the shows with “Purple Rain” – like a sort of instrumental.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Oh, did you arrange it for solo guitar?
Yeah! But then one night, he even let me do three of my original tunes at the start of the show.
No kidding! That’s unbelievable. What was the audience response like? You play something that’s – on the face of it – somewhat disparate relative to the material of the artist you’re supporting. Did you feel like you were really able to get through to folks?
Yeah, actually. On the Dream Theater shows, in particular, nobody threw anything at me [laughs]. No, they were like, “Yeah!” And I think it worked because musically, they’re doing creative stuff. Their fans appreciate creativity and people doing each thing acoustically. It worked out really well on the Dream Theater shows. And on the Prince things, yeah, it was fine. It’s like 20,000 people, you know, and they’re shouting and clapping the whole time.
Right. And again, I think it goes back to that idea of the universality of acoustic music. I think it just resonates with people.
Yeah, and there’s something special about a solo performer with an instrument. Just that kind of direct connection you can get from it.
Totally. Alright, well let’s get to the new album. Tell me about it – it’s an EP with four tracks. You’ve done one with a baritone [guitar] and one with a piano. Another one had an electric guitar solo! So maybe you’re harkening back to your roots a little bit – what’re your thoughts on it?
Totally. Yeah, I wanted to just kind of try different things a bit, and not feel limited to just the acoustic guitar on it. You know, there are two solo acoustic pieces but I’d come up with this idea on the piano, and I thought was great. I was like, “I’ll put that on there.”
There’s another tune called “Lumine” on there. I came up with this guitar part and a piano part kind of separately, actually. I didn’t really have an idea to put those together, but they worked really well together, so that became that song. And actually when I finished it, I thought it’d be kind of cool to add an electric guitar solo. So that just got added on too, and I just said “Yeah, hell with it,” you know? [Laughs]
So that’s kind of what happened. And that’s kind of the spirit of the EP – just appreciating creativity and people that are creative. The tune “Mythmaker” is dedicated to creative people out there. And so I tried to get into that spirit too, with the music.
Was that kind of the broader inspiration behind that set of compositions?
Right, yeah.
That’s cool. What does the future hold for you? What kinds of musical concepts are really taking you right now? Composition? Harmony?
Well, I’m still listening to Michael Hedges like every day, you know, still getting inspiration from him. My tour manager really got me into Ween on this tour, actually [laughs]. They’re just hilarious – I mean, you know, nothing like what I do [laughs]. But I’ve been listening to some video game composers, actually.
Interesting. Like which ones?
Nobuo Uematsu, who does Final Fantasy, and some of the guys that did the Resident Evil music – like in the first Resident Evil. It’s really great. And most of it’s instrumental – I’ve always been drawn to that. So video game music is great for the instrumental stuff.
But yeah, I’d like to release some collaborative stuff. I’ve been talking with Eric Johnson and John Petrucci and everybody’s like “Yeah, we should definitely do it – definitely do it.” So maybe my next release will have some of that collaborative stuff with those guys. But I do think releasing EPs might be my model going forward.
Right. I think Eric Johnson was doing that.
Yeah, it’s a bit easier to get something out there rather than waiting until you have 12 songs. If you get four more, put them out there, you know? And for me, personally – being a touring performer and all – it’s a bit hard to write new music when I’m out on the road, you know?
Understandably so.
Yeah. I actually took last year off and part of the reason was just so I could have time to work on new music.
Right. So when you write, you just like to have kind of a creative space – somewhere where you can do your thing?
I’ve got a studio in my house – it’s just a room – in my basement. It’s just to get away.
So that’s about all I have. But before we wrap up, do you have any particularly cool stories from playing with Prince?
[Laughs] Well..
Basketball? Pancakes? [Laughs]
[Tour manager]: You’re not allowed to tell them [laughs]!
[Laughs] Actually, a couple. He’s actually very, very good at ping pong, as well. He seems to be really good at anything – whatever he puts his mind to. He would have a ping pong table backstage at every gig and he would always want to play – and always win [laughs].
Even that first time I went to Paisley Park to jam and stuff, he’s like “Want to play some ping pong?” I was like, “Ok, cool. I’m not that good…” [laughs]
“Ok, cool!” [laughs]
But yeah, he’s really good at that. Also – just kind of a funny one – originally on the tour down there, when I would open the shows, I was supposed to wear a 50 foot-long cape, and they would have this big projector shooting images of the universe on the back of the cape. And I would be playing guitar. But I just felt so weird about that – I couldn’t do the 50-foot cape thing [laughs]. And so I actually just played the guitar, and there was a really beautiful girl – she’s like a supermodel – she wore the cape and it unfurled behind her as she walked towards me, and then they lowered us down on an elevator and we did that. [laughs]
[Laughs] That’s really, really rad. Well, that’s all I’ve got. Thank you so much for doing this – it was a pleasure. I’m looking forward to the show!
My pleasure, man. Thanks for coming out!
The post Andy McKee: From YouTube to Prince – Q&A appeared first on Oregon Music News.