Jan. 2012

Leap Year arrives again, the 4th one since I made the leap into my current livelihood as a full-time artist. I still have yet to figure out how to clone myself so I can actually bring some of the ideas in my head or my notebook to life to share with you while still staying busy enough to keep eating and the roof overhead. I've heard there's an app for that.

Meanwhile, we kick this year off with a new newsletter format. Like all change in my life, it takes me some getting used to and an occasional kick over a cliff to jump in, but away we go. More on that, and more stuff, below - most importantly Happy New Year to you and yours! I hope to see you soon.

In this issue:

1. Upcoming Shows
2. Why the New E-Zine Format?!
3. From the Newswire
4. Want More Music? Free Downloads, $8 CDs
In My Ears: Andy McKee Joyland
Essay: "Gifts of Learning"

Would you like to help? Share a song or CD from the website via email or Facebook, host a house concert, or check out some other much-appreciated ideas: http://andrewmcknight.net/help
Thanks most of all for reading this!

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1. UPCOMING SHOWS Details and links at http://andrewmcknight.net.

• Mon. Jan 8 Takoma Park, MD - Capital City Cheesecake, Open Mic Feature, 6pm
• Fri. Jan 27 Marshall, NC - BridgeBack House Concerts, 7pm
• Sat. Jan 28 Elizabethton, TN - First Presbyterian Church, Saving Appalachia's Mountains Concert w/ Dana & Susan Robinson, 7pm
• Fri. Feb 3 Martinsburg, WV - First Friday Coffeehouse, 7:30pm
• Sat. Feb 4 Columbia, MD - Calvary Community Church Concert Andrew & Beyond Borders w/ Tony Denikos Band 7:30pm

Do you see an open date when Andrew is within a reasonable drive of your area? We're always happy for help hosting a show, little or large. Some shows come together a few weeks in advance, others plan over a year ahead of time - and we can handle it either way. Andrew also offers a suite of programs and workshops for libraries and schools as well as keynote presentations.

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2. WHY THE NEW E-ZINE FORMAT?!

The realities of 2012 are that a great many people do much of their email reading and even web browsing on smartphones and tablets. While we have a fond spot for the readers who remain loyal to the 8-year old PC on their desk (perhaps even with dial-up modems), we are compelled to try to find a graceful way to bridge the gap. Our fine webhosts at Hostbaby.com are migrating all of their users to this new email management system - which is nice for some things, and makes us miss things about the old way.

Andrew is probably not too far from the norm - not allowing embedded pictures to download in an email - so this new format with some simple graphics may not look at all to you like it did as we carefully assembled it! We're hopeful that for the majority of our readers, this will be an improvement.

It has been good these past few weeks to think about how we can better share things that might interest you. The bottom line is unchanged - there are no corporate sponsors, management companies, limousines and the such involved with Andrew's music - it remains fueled in large part by you the listeners who come to shows, buy music, and help spread the word. We need you and we are grateful for these few moments to communicate with you each month!

So this first issue of 2012 is a bit of a work in progress - evolution if you will. But we'll put our hard hats on and ask for your feedback as well as your patience. Did it come through nicely formatted? Are you able to find the content you are looking for? What else might you like to see?

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3. FROM THE NEWSWIRE

- Followers of Andrew's Facebook page were treated to his "12 Days of Tunes-mas" posts. Each day he shared a link to different artists - some friends, some inspirations - to introduce his friends and fans to some new music. If you would like to hear what's on his mind a little more often than these monthly newsletters, drop on by http://facebook.com/AndrewMcKnight.Musician - you can "Like" the page and share your enthusiasm with your FB friends, and even encourage them to do the same. If you like the music, please don't keep it a secret!

- We're grateful to the good folks at Acoustic Live!, an indie webzine based in New York City, for their kind words about Something Worth Standing For in their December 2011 issue featuring music they discovered at the recent Northeast Regional Folk Alliance conference. "Andrew McKnight is a crackerjack folk-rocker"; see the news item at the website for the complete review and rundown.

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4. WANT MORE MUSIC? FREE DOWNLOADS, $8 CDs

You are always welcome to any and all of the free downloads at the website - some of which are available nowhere else! And if you are wanting to fill out your collection of Andrew's recordings, any of his five solo CDs are available anytime as CD-quality downloads with artwork booklets and liner notes for $8, or get the CD by mail plus the immediate download for just $12 plus shipping. You can also buy single-song downloads directly from Andrew at the website thanks to the good folks at Bandcamp.com.

And then there is the now-finished Andrew McKnight & Beyond Borders One Virginia Night live CD - ready and waiting while we finish the video editing for the companion DVD. It's not available for download or purchase just yet, but when it is, it will join all the aforementioned music at http://andrewmcknight.net/music

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"IN MY EARS"

I had heard other guitarists doing the 2-handed thing before I heard Michael Hedges in the early 1980s, but his work has inspired countless guitarists since to use their right hand on the fretboard a little or a lot. I recently got a chance to check out YouTube sensation Andy McKee, and have been really into his Joyland album - as much for the fact that it's not just a solo guitar recording as it is for his astounding technique. His version of Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is quite cool, but I have to say I am really mesmerized by the tones, tuning and above all, percussive timbres in his amazing solo piece "Hunter's Moon". It's not his best composition, but it is very cool.

You have to see it to believe it, so see it at http://youtube.com/watch?v=II39Y9yrmB0

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ANDREW'S ESSAY: "Gifts of Learning"
Thoughts on watching a pre-schooler teaching herself about music, the gift of inspiration, and my "Acoustic Guitars You Should Hear" playlist I selected for my guitar students.

"Santa brought our 4 1/2 year old daughter a Casio keyboard this Christmas. It's a decent learn-to-play keyboard, but it also has a lot of rythym section and tone capabilities, and comes pre-loaded with 10 songs, which I have now heard about 10 million times. But along with that, I've been watching with my own sense of wonder at how a young mind assimilates this language and vibe we call "music".

For the last couple of weeks I have been given an extraordinary window into the learning process. First it was turn on the song tracks and dance around. But what happened next has been quite enlightening. Madeleine has been singing melodies for awhile now, fairly true to the melody at whatever key she decided to start singing in, but not at all connected to what the actual key she was singing along to might be. That changed - about 3 days after the keyboard came down the chimney.. . ." [Read the rest at http://andrewmcknight.net/essays]

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