Andy McKee

Thanks to a clip uploaded to YouTube late last year, Andy McKee has become something of a guitar hero. The video, which features McKee performing a song called “Drifting,” has generated over two million hits, making it one of the most watched music videos on the site. So what’s the draw? Most likely, folks are enthralled by McKee’s two-handed tapping technique and the way he keeps the pulse of the song surging by slapping the top of the guitar in between chords. But while such an approach may seem innovative, guys like Preston Reed and Michael Hedges have been playing that way for years. In fact, it was a workshop led by Reed and attended by McKee that steered the then-teenage disciple of Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson toward the acoustic and prompted him to seek out other inventive stringmen such as Hedges, Don Ross and Billy McLaughlin. Although McKee incorporates elements of those players’ styles, he adds enough flair to be considered a heroic figure in his own right.