Hailing from Kansas in the United States, Andy McKee is a world renowned guitarist best known for his original compositions for steel-string acoustic guitar. Andy has performed as a soloist in over 40 countries around the world, bringing a universal message of music without words. After being initially intrigued with the electric guitar as a teenager, Andy turned to the steel-string acoustic guitar after discovering the music of modern fingerstyle guitarists like Michael Hedges, Preston Reed, Don Ross and others. "I was so amazed at the possibilities of the acoustic guitar that were revelaed to me by players like Hedges. I loved the idea of exploring alternate tunings and trying to cover rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic ideas at once. I was always quite shy as a kid and I felt like the guitar might be a way for me to say some personal things that were too difficult with words." In 2006, Andy's music was brought to people around the world when his original composition "Drifting" began to go viral on the burgeoning website YouTube. Several of his other pieces like "Rylynn", "For My Father", and "Into the Ocean" captured the imagination of viewers as well, receiving millions of views. To date, Andy's videos have had hundreds of millions of views which in turn have inspired people around the world to play fingerstyle guitar. Many notable players cite him as an influence including Calum Graham, Alexandr Misko, Sungha Jung, and Mike Dawes among others.