Talk:Andy McKee

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This article looks fairly new; it could use some simple formatting to "wikify" it a bit more; proper spacing, some incorrect spelling, citations, etc. DISCUSS!!!

Yeah, I wrote pretty much the entire article, but I'm relatively new to wiki formatting and whatnot, so feel free to make changes where needed. Most of the information in the article is pulled from biographies of McKee on his personal page and record label site, responses he's made to fans on his message board, and live interviews such as his appearance on NPR's Woodsongs. If I can help clarify anything needing clarification, don't hesitate to ask. Dandon TRJ 06:23, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

My first impression is that the page comes across as much too promotional--those YouTube stats and such sound like PR copy. I'd advise toning it down a lot--and I'd urge the original editor to take a crack at it. RLetson 05:06, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

"His influences include, but are not limited to"?? This isn't an insurance policy document 83.67.2.61 22:04, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Can someone add the new CD to the discography? http://www.candyrat.com/artists/AndyMcKee/GatesofGnomeria/

OK, that was quick. 70.42.116.9

There is a citation for Andy's third place showing at Winfield in 2001, but not for the first place in 2004... did he actually win this? From the festival's website he doesn't appear to be listed as a winner or runner-up for that year:

http://www.wvfest.com/contests/byyear.html?year=2004

According to his label's bio of him, "In 2004, Andy Released his 2nd CD titled 'Dreamcatcher'. With the title track, Andy won a competition to have a chance to perform on stage with bassist Michael Manring. Andy also won 1st place in the Kansas Fingerstyle Guitar Competition and 2nd in the Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Competiton." Dandon TRJ 03:55, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

199.244.214.30 16:08, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

I think this is an error on the part of the label... as far as I know there isn't a "Kansas Fingerstyle Guitar Competition" other than Winfield/Walnut Valley (which Keith Taylor won in 2004); Andy has never placed at Winfield other than 3rd in 2001 (he was a paid performer there in 2006 as well). Here is his bio from the Winfield site:

http://www.wvfest.com/contests/winner.html?winnerid=372

I did a Google search for "Kansas Fingerstyle Guitar Competition", but the only results were various rewordings of the above sentence. 24.125.122.196 (talk) 21:12, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV

I don't want to spoil the party, but this article reads like a promotion for Andy McKee. I don't doubt his merits for fingerstyle guitar in general, and he's an accomplished player. But the text by it's wording and choice of phrases is not encyclopedic and doesn't follow the WP:NPOV guideline. A lot of sections lack references (could be mended by some research, no doubt). Additionally there has been a lot of editing here lately under anonymous IPs, which is not a good idea. I don't want to use heavy artillery like the NPOV-tag here, but I would suggest to rework the article to meet the Wikipedia criteria for a good article. Jm2c, --Jo (talk) 14:19, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, sorry about that. I'm admittedly a big fan of his, and am astounded to see how quickly he has gained popularity in the last year, but I guess that enthusiasm bled into my writing a bit too much. Many of those anonymous edits are me, by the way - I tend to edit McKee's entry when I'm bored in my college classes and don't bother to log in all the time. I've removed a lot of the PR-sounding language, and will probably trim a bit more in the near future. I'll see what I can do about adding research references, too - information on McKee is somewhat sparse. I can't even find his birthday! Dandon TRJ (talk) 07:06, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Dandon, for your work, and no need to be sorry. I think it's always a great challege to write an article about a musician which is NPOV. But I think it is possible without leaving out too much. There's so much internet garble about artists on the net, and it gets really boring. I think WP is a good place to just let the facts speak for themselves.

BTW, you should try to shrink the citations a bit, they occupy quite a good deal of space in the article. Please have a look at Block quotation or similar pages about quoting style in WP. Additionally you should consider to omit at least the quote about file sharing, you already included a screenshot of that dialogue. Also, external links should normally not be included in the text, see Wikipedia:External links. You should consider reworking the weblink into a an inline citation, see Wikipedia:Citing sources.

I'm sorry to be such a pain, but in my opinion some effort in writing a good, concise article is neccessary (and a good training for whatever job you're planning to take after university). Feel free to ask me, if you like. --Jo (talk) 13:58, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

im a nube? and this is the only way i could figure out how to post something..sorry...

i personally thought that the space in the article devoted to anti-drug and anti-piracy statements set up an unnecessary pessimistic view toward the attitudes and opinions of some of his listeners. it is possible that this artist feels strongly on these issues, in which case it should be stated as boldly, but it set me off a bit, just when i wanted to know more about his talent. the article needs to focus more on his talents, music, life and achievements, as apposed to his personal views on particular unrelated subjects. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.114.166.90 (talk) 07:29, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Both those sections relate to his music (its creation and its distribution, respectively). That's the relevance. Dandon TRJ (talk) 03:09, 5 April 2008 (UTC)