Andy McKee exploded to prominence in 2006 with this video of his track “Drifting,” released on the nascent CandyRat record label.
Twenty years later, Andy’s career has taken him to audiences around the world, with collaborations ranging from Dream Theater to Prince.
I’ve been looking forward to sharing this episode of Life on the Fretboard since we recorded it during Andy’s latest world tour. But first let me set the scene…
A few weeks ago, I was in Japan, a country that I had not visited since my late teens. The first time I was there, I managed to blow almost all of my budget for the trip on a secondhand Fender Telecaster I found in Osaka…a Keith Richards-style ’72 Custom with a wide-range humbucker and the four knobs. (That was on day two of a two-week trip, and an indication of seventeen-year-old me’s value priorities and impulse control.) On this trip, I resolved to be more cautious.
This time, I was in Japan as producer for Australian fingerstyle guitar supremo Alan Gogoll. He’s a previous guest on this podcast and, to my mind, one of the most impactful and iconoclastic acoustic guitar voices of this century. That is no idle exaggeration.
Alan was playing a set at the Osaka Sound Messe show, the Japanese equivalent of the Fretboard Summit. After that, the plan was to get some peace and quiet in the historic city of Kyoto, where we would record an album (our sixth together). All of this has now happened.
Note: In the Fretboard Journal‘s 59th issue, you will find an article I wrote about my experiences on the producer’s side of the glass at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin for the recording sessions that would become Alan Gogoll’s album Lioness Lullabys.
The reason that I mention this is that, during my time in Japan, my guest for this episode, the mighty ANDY MCKEE, was also in Osaka. Despite the twin charms of tight schedules and crushing jet lag, we were able to get together one evening as a small group that included Alan, Andy and fellow guitarists Adrian Bellue (the acoustic one) and Japan’s own Kousuke Miura. We enjoyed a dinner together at an all-you-can-eat wagyu beef emporium in Osaka.
It was at dinner when I heard Alan Gogoll say that if it hadn’t been for Andy’s “Drifting,” he never would have picked up an acoustic guitar and would probably still be shredding on some sort of pointy Ibanez with a Floyd Rose.
That meant that, if it hadn’t been for Andy, neither Alan nor I would have been sitting at that table in Osaka; that Fretboard Journal article would never have been written, and none of the albums we had made together would exist!
This was quite a moment of realization for me – a sudden sense of time and place – and it made me stop and consider the impact that Andy McKee has had on the acoustic guitar world. He represents a true paradigm shift for instrumental acoustic players. He even toured with Prince as a solo acoustic guitarist…come on!
From my own point of view, Andy represents something of a duality: I first met him in Montreal some 15 years ago and every time I have had the pleasure of hanging out with him, he’s been affable, easygoing, and a genuine delight…the sweetest dude who is also a ferociously gifted guitarist, composer and performer.
We can learn a lot from Andy McKee. During the course of this conversation, I certainly did.
We talk about Andy’s early years in Topeka, Kansas; formative exposure to Eric Johnson’s “Cliffs of Dover,” which is how it all started for him; the deep influence of players such as Michael Hedges, Preston Reed and Don Ross; social media and the visual aspect of modern life as a musician; Prince; and the joy of working with celebrated acoustic guitar maker Michael Greenfield, who is also the sponsor for this episode.
This conversation actually took place several months before our meeting in Japan at a small hotel near Gatwick Airport, prior to Andy flying to the next leg of his world tour. There had been logistics and details and all manner of little moving parts that needed attending to, but Andy was handling it all with his typical good nature.
We had just had dinner when we recorded this and that’s where you join us during this podcast.
Life on the Fretboard is a Michael Watts production for Fretboard Journal.
Theme music by me with Dan Western on drums.
Branding by Michael Johnson.
Some links I mentioned:
Guitars of the British Isles with Martin Simpson (YouTube)
Andy McKee
https://andymckee.com
https://www.instagram.com/therealmckee
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4SlCAeLGLONquLmwYBkttA
Michael Watts
https://www.michaelwattsguitar.com
https://www.instagram.com/michael.watts.guitar/
https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelWatts
Sponsored by Greenfield Guitars.
Be advised that the conversation does contain some adult language.
