McKee played his first guitar, an
Aria nylon string bought by his father, at age 13. Initially underwhelmed by his guitar lessons, McKee began teaching himself how to play guitar. He began learning
shred guitar music, including songs by
Metallica,
Eric Johnson, and
Joe Satriani. McKee's electric guitar-playing cousin inspired him to continue learning, taking him out for his 16th birthday to see a guitarist named
Preston Reed perform live at a
clinic. McKee later bought an instructional videotape from Reed and began to learn many of his acoustic guitar techniques from it. Later that year, with his mother's permission, he obtained his
GED in order to quit attending high school and play more guitar. He began to be influenced by primarily acoustic guitarists such as
Michael Hedges,
Billy McLaughlin,
Pat Kirtley, and from
Passion Session by
Don Ross, as he continued studying the instrument on his own.
Nocturne (2001) In 2001, McKee independently released his first album,
Nocturne. That same year, he was placed third at the National Fingerstyle Guitar Competition in
Winfield, Kansas. In 2003, McKee toured in Taiwan with
Jacques Stotzem, Isato Nakagawa, and
Masaaki Kishibe, and earned first place in the Miscellaneous Acoustic Instrument contest of the New Jersey State Fiddling and Picking Championships with a Ron Spillers
harp guitar he purchased from Stephen Bennett in 2002., The instrument can be heard in a number of his songs on later albums, such as
Into the Ocean and
Gates of Gnomeria. Only 1,000 copies of
Nocturne were ever produced and the album is now out of circulation.
Dreamcatcher (2004) McKee released his second album,
Dreamcatcher, in 2004. The album includes his cover of Toto's "Africa" and "Theme from Schindler's List," as well as a
harp guitar tribute to
Michael Hedges entitled "The Friend I Never Met." McKee used the title track to win the opportunity to perform with bassist
Michael Manring, with whom he has since toured repeatedly. He placed second in the Fingerstyle Guitar Competition of the Canadian Guitar Festival that year. The album was later re-released by McKee's label in response to the popularity he garnered on YouTube.
Art of Motion (2005) McKee's third CD,
Art of Motion, was released on Candyrat Records in November 2005. Most of McKee's YouTube performances appear on the album, along with a handful of tracks carried over from
Dreamcatcher. During the early stages of McKee's success on YouTube in late 2006 and early 2007,
Art of Motion was the only album of his carried by Candyrat Records, and saw the most mainstream exposure as a result.
The Gates of Gnomeria (2007) After his popularity due to his performances on YouTube and touring throughout much of 2007, McKee returned to the studio to record his fourth CD,
The Gates of Gnomeria. The album contained six new songs, four songs which had been previously released on McKee's
Nocturne album, as well as two cover songs. McKee spent the majority of 2008 on tour throughout the world, performing with other Candyrat artists.
The Thing That Came From Somewhere (2008) In 2008, McKee released a collaborative album with
Don Ross, entitled
The Thing That Came From Somewhere. He also released a split DVD that same year with labelmate
Antoine Dufour, each artist contributing eight songs to the disc; two of McKee's from
Gates of Gnomeria.
Common Ground EP (2009) In between touring, and helping promote his duo guitar record with Don Ross, McKee recorded an EP of two re-recordings of songs from his
Dreamcatcher album, and a cover song by Japanese guitarist
Masaaki Kishibe. The album was released digitally only, along with videos available on iTunes that include his performance of his two compositions.
Joyland (2010) McKee announced in May 2009 that he intended to finish touring in the second half of the year and concentrate on recording his upcoming album. He stated in July 2009 that it would most likely be titled "Joyland", the title track of the album which originally went under the name "Music For A Vacant Amusement Park." The song was inspired by an amusement park in Topeka, Kansas named Boyle's Joyland that was open from 1951 to 1988. The album was completed in November 2009 and released digitally on March 23, 2010, with a physical release following on March 30, 2010 through
Razor & Tie. In the background on the album cover is an image of the "Whacky Shack" at Wichita's Joyland Amusement Park (closed 2006). According to McKee, "On this album I've branched out a bit and included some instrumentation on a couple of songs. There's also a new harpguitar tune and a couple of covers such as "
Layover" by
Michael Hedges and
Tears for Fears' "
Everybody Wants to Rule the World." The album also features a DVD full of 75 minutes worth of additional video material, including a documentary called
Andy McKee: Joyland and four new performance music videos directed by
Jeremy Osbern.
Mythmaker EP (2014) McKee maintained a prolific worldwide touring schedule for several years after the release of "Joyland," including tours with
Antoine Dufour, Trevor Gordon Hall, Stephen Bennett,
Jon Gomm,
Eric Johnson,
Peppino D'Agostino,
Preston Reed, and others. On April 8, 2014, McKee released "Mythmaker," a four-song EP of new original material that included his first-ever solo piano composition ("June") and made use of electric guitar ("Lumine").
Live Book (2016) In December 2015, McKee professionally recorded live shows at The Melting Point in Athens, GA, the Red Clay Music Foundry in Duluth, GA, and Workplay in Birmingham, AL, which he then edited together and released as his first ever live record, entitled "Live Book," on March 8, 2016.
Symbol EP (2021) Beginning in 2020, due to the shuttering of the live touring industry during the
COVID-19 pandemic, McKee began livestreaming weekly concerts to his fans through
Facebook Live (dubbed "McKee Mondays") and offering online guitar instruction through TrueFire, as well as dedicated one-on-one lessons. In June 2021, McKee performed his first live show since the start of the pandemic in
Nashville, Tennessee and announced his first release of new music since 2014's "Mythmaker," beginning with a six-track EP of cover songs entitled "Symbol" to be released on September 17, 2021. The first single from the EP, a cover of "Ragamuffin" by Michael Hedges, was released on July 15, 2021. ==Career progression==