As for me, I just got home after being out with Stephen Bennett and Antoine Dufour on Guitar Masters for the past month here in the USA. Nice to be home for at least a few days! I am off to Germany in 36 hours for a festival show on 11 November in Leverkusen, DE. If you are in Germany and can come to the show this will be my only European show for the remainder of the year.

On to some stuff that I can’t believe I can tell you: I am going out on tour with Dream Theater as their support act! Almost UNBELIEVABLE – but its true! I have dates in early December in Southern California and Arizona and then I have a 3 shows in Mexico, as well.

AND, in January I am supporting shows as the opener for Eric Johnson and his band who are doing their full show. These dates are in NYC, Philly area, Chicago, Columbia Missouri, Hollywood and Anaheim CA.

AND then, more Guitar Masters dates with Antoine and Stephen on the West Coast in February plus a whole bunch of dates of me and Antoine all over the US.

This goes on until Late March then I take a breather… tons of international shows coming up this year – can’t wait to share these all with you.

GO HERE FOR ALL MY DATES:

http://www.andymckee.com/tour/

Hope you are all having a nice summer or winter depending on where you are. Thought I would get out an update to you all about what is going on with me and what the rest of the year looks like. It is great being at home with my family – can’t say enough about it. Still, I am super eager to see you guys at shows.

Touring
Right now, I am gearing up for a week in the UK in early August these are full length sets by me and if you can make it to the Cheltenham Guitar Festival I am doing 2 master classes. On the Guitar Masters front, I have about 22 shows on the books with Stephen Bennett and Antoine Dufour slated for Oct/Nov in the USA (dates below) – We are going to rock the house each night on that tour. Finally, I have a one off show in Germany on Nov 11 and that’ll be the rest of my touring for the year.

Guitar Masters Tickets
Wed, Oct 12, 2011 Denver, CO Soiled Dove
Thu, Oct 13, 2011 Lawrence, KS Lawrence Arts Center
Fri, Oct 14, 2011 Minneapolis, MN The Dakota Jazz Club Early Show
Fri, Oct 14, 2011 Minneapolis, MN The Dakota Jazz Club Late Show
Sat, Oct 15, 2011 Milwaukee, WI Vogel Hall
Sun, Oct 16, 2011 Madison, WI Majestic
Mon, Oct 17, 2011 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
Thu, Oct 20, 2011 Institute, WV WVSU Ferrell Hall Auditorium
Fri, Oct 21, 2011 Newport, KY Southgate
Sat, Oct 22, 2011 Columbus, OH Lincoln Theater
Sun, Oct 23, 2011 Cleveland, OH HOB
Mon, Oct 24, 2011 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
Wed, Oct 26, 2011 Pittsburgh, PA Rex Theater
Thu, Oct 27, 2011 Buffalo Tralf
Fri, Oct 28, 2011 Boston, MA Showcase Live
Sat, Oct 29, 2011 White River Jct., VT Tupelo
Sun, Oct 30, 2011 Londonderry, NH Tupelo
Tue, Nov 01, 2011 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
Wed, Nov 02, 2011 New York, NY BB King’s
Thu, Nov 03, 2011 Norfolk, CT Infinity Hall
Fri, Nov 04, 2011 Vienna, VA (Washington, DC) Jammin’ Java
Sat, Nov 05, 2011 Annapolis, MD Ram’s Head (1pm Matinee)

Planning next year already – this promises US dates on the West Coast early in the year- Europe later on in the fall most likely. Trying to get back to Asia, Austrailia and other markets outside the US, as well. So please stand by for the details on this – I will let y’all know what is coming up. You can always see the latest that I have posted here: http://www.andymckee.com/tour/

Social Media Stuff -
I do all my own Facebook posting stuff – which a lot of you know already…. But if you don’t there’s a good chance you can connect with me or give me a shout nearly everyday by just going here – http://www.facebook.com/andymckeemusic

HEY… do you….. Read/Speak Chinese & English? If so, I NEED YOUR HELP… I need someone who can read and write in Chinese to help me with my Sina Weibo language skills. I need to post videos and some music asap – plus I need to be able to respond respectfully to my fans in China. Looking for someone to be a go to resource in this area. – any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Just reach out to me either through the manager or info link or my personal web page. If you want to be friends on Weibo please friend me.Thanks! My site is here: http://weibo.com/andymckee

Online Video news -
International fans who have been blocked by VEVO – there should be a version of each track called “International” – I know this isn’t very clever but you should be able to see the videos through this Youtube links – as long as it says International Version – this is for the four tracks that I have videos on from the Joyland record (Hunter’s Moon, Joyland, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, & Never Grow Old.)

That’s it for now… I know that I’ve got some exciting news coming shortly my friends and I can’t wait to further share it with you.

Cheers! Andy

Over the last week on tour, I’ve come to realize that I can not be away from home for a month or more at a time with my new son back at home. The maximum is probably more like less than 3 weeks. Right now I am scheduled for a full month of touring in June so I’ve had to shorten my away time from home.

The rest of 2011 is pretty relaxed compared to the first half, so no other dates should be affected but of course I will let you know immediately if anything else changes.

Additionally, I try to always be transparent with you guys so I should also say that at least part of the decision to cancel the shows also concerns the stability of the region. I’m becoming more aware that I am very sensitive (perhaps a character flaw) to traveling to areas that are in turmoil or that are facing geo-political threats and other discord. My booking agents arrange shows up to a year in advance and I commit to shows at that time. However, if things come up that give me reason to be uncomfortable performing in a region (the bus attack in Jerusalem last march, the Fatah-Hamas pact and Netanyahu’s labeling it a “victory for terrorism”, the 48 rocket attacks on the Gaza Strip so far this year) than I won’t be performing there until peace and acceptance are the norm.

I am very sorry if this impacts you. You have every right to be upset, but I hope this explanation helps in some small way. This decision is entirely my own and was made only after much thought and discussion with my immediate and extended family.

With sincerest apologies,
Andy McKee

Touring:
Picking up steam on the touring front – new date added in Copenhagen, Denmark for June 15 (this will be my only show in Scandinavia this year), and recently finalized the schedule for shows in Israel. Next up for me is Germany which begins next week and France, Denmark, Holland, Israel which are all in June. I will take July off for the most part. August has a few dates in the UK. And then Guitar Masters will be hitting the road in USA in the early fall (lineup and touring dates to follow as soon as the dates lock) – These shows are going to be great and I can’t wait to announce the lineup. I will be sticking closer to home in November/December to spend time with my family. My touring in 2012 is going to feature a lot of gigs as usual and I plan to go to a lot of places I haven’t yet been able to go to. Also, I am looking to bring Guitar Masters to Europe in the fall of 2012. All the current dates are listed here with active ticket links whenever possible: http://www.andymckee.com/tour/

TV:
I will be on German morning TV next week on May 2 it is the morning show (6 to 10 AM – I will be on and off performing snippets and whole songs during the entire morning show) it is on SAT.1 Frühstücksfernsehen.

Hope to see you at a gig and have a chance to say hello to you in person. Thank you for your great support.

Cheers! Andy

For a physical copy of Joyland please go here:

http://www.amazon.com/Joyland-Andy-McKee/dp/B0037ZNRJQ

For Joyland on iTunes:

http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=DjFxxY4s5cM&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fitunes.apple.com%252Fus%252Falbum%252Fjoyland%252Fid361322740%253Fi%253D361322743%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30

Just a quick check in from the road with some new tour dates in places I have never played before!

The UK has been a lot of fun. Thanks to all for coming out and making the tour a huge success!

I am in Ireland today and looking forward to the next four shows. Tomorrow night is already sold out in Belfast but Galway, Cork, and Dublin still have tickets available.

After Ireland, I am going home for about a week and then coming back for a couple of weeks in France. I just had a killer one off festival show in Le Poire Sur Vie – easily the biggest crowd I have had in France. It was a killer gig and a huge thanks goes to everyone who came out. I will be back in France in early June as well for a couple of weeks of gigs including Paris.

German dates are coming up fast in May and I’ll be doing a morning TV show on 2 May – I’ll get you these details – but I expect that I will be on air playing a bunch of tunes!

I’ve got a Netherlands show on June 17 and I am looking to add some additional dates there.

For the first time, I will be playing in Israel. These are “evening with” shows (meaning its a solo show with all my guitars) on June 20 in Tel Aviv, June 21 or 22 in a city we are still confirming and on June 23 in Haifa.

To everyone else asking me to play new markets – I assure you, I have my guys who help me with the booking stuff trying to get me to a lot of new places. So, Brazil, Phillipines, Russia, Indonesia, Italy, India, Turkey, Egypt, Poland, Argentina, and million other places – I HEAR YOU. Can’t wait to come meet you in person.

Thanks for everything – your support is what it is all about!

See you soon, Andy

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17176117/Andy%20McKee%202010%20Fall%20Holidalicious%20Song/BlingBling.mp3

I just added a NYC gig for Jan 7 – I am supporting the Max Weinberg Big Band at Fillmore Irving Plaza. On Jan. 13th, I have the free event at Border’s Books in Hollywood, CA at 7pm.  I’ll definitely be playing some tunes, come and call out a favorite and I’ll see what I can do. I’ve got some pretty cool news about countries and places I have never been to that are locking on my calendar right now, I can’t wait to share this with you all!

Thanks again for a great 2010. Really, the only things that matter are the friendship and amazing support you all have shown me these last several years. I’m still really humbled by it all. Please love the one’s you are with and be kind to the people you meet!

You guys are the best!  Andy

Tour Updates:

The second half of my France run has been updated and moved to a time slot in early June. There might be some other changes but right now this looks like the only serious schedule change I have on the books.

Jan 2011 USA show updates…

If you are free on the evening of Jan 13 2011 please come and hang out with me at the main Borders Book Store in Hollywood, CA USA.  I am doing a special event there to continue to promote and play some tunes off my current record Joyland.  We just added a week of additional dates with Eric Johnson, me and Peppino D’Agostino on Guitar Masters for late January. Don’t miss these shows! They are awesome and we all hang out afterwards to say hello.

Go here for all the tour details:   http://www.andymckee.com/tour/

If you get a chance to go to your local magazine shop or newsstand or book shop that sells magazines, please check out this months Acoustic Guitar magazine with a nice cover article of yours truly and some lesson/tab stuff. The AG people are real nice folks so please check it out and let me know what you think of the article. I’ve also been hearing from a  bunch of people that they are catching Drifting on the Weather Channel.  If you happen to hear it please let me know where and when via my facebook page.  I’m on there a lot so please come by and say hello.

And-a-one-And-a-two- And-a-Dee

Some Andy McKee solo dates in Asia are to be announced shortly, I will post the dates ASAP. These will be after the date in Bangkok in late October.

Tab Folio News:
The tab folio for “Joyland” is OUT!  Get it here…

Also, music stores can also order just let them know it was published by the nice folks at Hal Leonard.

Video Updates:
Here’s some cool video links to a couple things that Lee Ritenour did in conjunction with me and the “Six String Theory” project. The first one is related to “Driftting” as Lee assembled a killer full band to help broaden the sound of my tune.

The next song is one of my all-time favorite tracks by Sting, “Shape of My Heart”. Lee had us “instrumentalize” this one with a full band. Steve “Luke” Lukather comes in on the main vocal melody over Lee’s sweet groove while I hold down the main acoustic riff. Lee and Steve weave in and out and their chops are simply mind-bending.

Due to the touring news I expect at any moment, I will be sending another detailed update as soon as I can. Thanks for helping making this whole adventure a beautiful thing! Android M.

I just posted a Festival date for Bangkok Thailand Bangkok Acoustic Guitar Celebration on 30 October. This will be my first time in Thailand and am super-psyched. Looking to lock a bunch of other Asian and Oceania dates right around that time frame – so please keep watching for updates.

Got a great contest running with the nice folks at eMusic – you get tickets to the July 13 Chicago show at Lincoln Hall and a private guitar lesson with me before the gig. This is a limited time contest so you need to enter asap:  http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/314193/win-a-guitar-lesson-from-andy-mckee-and-tickets-to-his-show-black-version-

Press continues to roll along – I just did an interview with Acoustic Guitar magazine and the current Guitar World mag with Ozzy on the cover has a nice feature article too that I had a lot of fun doing! Here’s a sneak peek at the cover: http://www.guitarworld.com/new_issue_preview_august_2010 … had a nice piece in the recent Vintage Guitar magazine, as well…. Go check these fine mags out on the newsstands.

After tomorrow, I am off to Canada for some exceptionally cool shows – so come by and say hello at these gigs – and, then I take a brief break before the next run of US gigs that will go through the end of July.

Catch up with you all very soon.

Your pal, Andy