Although it’s mostly solo guitar, McKee has recently begun incorporating sounds beyond the guitar, like cellos, into his music. “I’ve begun to hear more textures and concepts than are possible on the guitar,” he explained. “As a composer I don’t really want to limit myself in any way. That doesn’t mean I am done writing solo guitar pieces by any means, mind you!” When asked about the inspiration behind the title track, McKee said it was inspired by an image in his head. “It was of an old, abandoned theme park,” he shared. “I was using that as a sort of a metaphor for growing up and having to give up some of your carefree ways to be more responsible. There’s another tune on there called ‘My Life as a CPA,’ which I wrote after watching a program about parallel universes. You never know where inspiration will come from.”

McKee has a Michael Greenfield fanned fret gutar and has been playing his friend Don Ross’ fanned-fret guitar on tour. “The whole idea behind them is to get a much truer intonation through the entire neck of the guitar,” he explained. “As a result of the multiple scales, the frets have to be fanned so the notes are occurring in the proper position for each string.” McKee is excited about a new harp guitar that Greenfield is building for him. “It’s going to have six sub-bass strings like my last one, but one of the most important features is the addition of sharping levers on each sub bass string.” Sharping levers have been harpists’ secret weapons for years, allowing them to change the pitch of certain strings instantly by one half-step, making the harp a more chromatic instrument.

McKee and Billy McLaughlin put together a tour a few years back called Acoustic Archery, which has taken McKee around the globe. In Spring 2009, he toured Europe with Tony McManus and British blues guitarist Johnny Dickinson. “If things do come together as planned, I will have the honor of bringing Johnny Dickinson over to the US for the first time to do some gigs together in 2010.” McKee plays between 100-200 dates a year. Catch him if you can!

GUITARS: Greenfield Guitars, fan fret G4 and G2, Lance McCollum Baritone Guitar, Ron Spillers Harp Guitars
PICKUPS: K&K Sound Pickups
OUTBOARD GEAR: D-Tar Solstice Mixing-Blending System, TC Electronic Reverb
ACCESSORIES: Shubb Capos, D’Addario Strings