As Andy McKee demonstrated during his 90 minute concert at the sonically adroit Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine, the acoustic guitar is still able to have new sounds , approaches and stylings derived from it. Like an explorer from the 16th Century, Kansas-born McKee has taken uncharted waters with his instrument and is circumnavigating the globe of guitar possibilities, mixing traditions from American folk with Millennial sensibilities to create a whole new genre of not only playing, but approach to his trade.
Opening the show with “Drifiting,” McKee brought the audience into rapt focus with his patented hand tapping mixed with finger picking style that became famous from a youtube video. Taking material from the under-used resource of 80s pop, McKee put pieces such as Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and Toto’s “Africa” through his Waring blender of picking, strumming, percussing, bass riffing and tapping the strings, neck and body to create an orchestral aura to a man and guitar. On his own song such as “Hunter’s Moon” and “Ouray” he and his guitar can bring together sounds from back porch bluegrass picking, jazz, blues, Afro Cuban and even a hint of Fleetwood Mac and make the pieces sound both completely American yet universal. A tender tune such as “7-14” featured his jaw dropping technique of intricately using both hands and all ten digits caressing the neck strings, but it wasn’t as a gimmick. Rather you felt like you were watching a tailor thread a needle with fine string to create a rich tapestry. On his two most recent pieces, “The Reason” captured the sounds and moods of infants playing together while “Myth Maker” was sorghum thick with a deeply funky bass groove. By the time he closed with the appropriately titled “Common Ground,” McKee showed the audience that the timeless talents of a man with guitar can find unity with music from Doc Watson to Merle Travis to the Delta and even the 21st Century. This gent takes you on a vision of the future of the possibilities of the guitar, and he makes it looks promising!
Coming Jan. 21 & 22 to Pepperdine, the dynamic duo of Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor.