mckee played his first guitar, an aria nylon string bought by his father, at age 13. initially underwhelmed by his guitar lessons, mckee began teaching himself how to play guitar. he began learning shred guitar music, including songs by metallica, eric johnson, and joe satriani. mckee's electric guitar-playing cousin inspired him to continue learning, taking him out for his 16th birthday to see a guitarist named preston reed perform live at a clinic. mckee later bought an instructional videotape from reed and began to learn many of his acoustic guitar techniques from it. later that year, with his mother's permission, he obtained his ged in order to quit attending high school and play more guitar. he began to be influenced by guitarists such as michael hedges, billy mclaughlin, pat kirtley, and from "passion session" by don ross, as he continued studying the instrument on his own.