AL McKAY ALLSTARS featuring OLLIE WOODSON BIO Virtuoso guitarist and multi-platinum songwriter. Veteran session player, sideman and in-demand instrumentalist, both on stage and in the studio. A bandleader of international renown. Over the course of the extraordinary career that is now entering its fifth decade of uninterrupted music-making, Al McKay has established a reputation as one of the most innovative and influential artists of his generation. A musician’s musician, McKay’s professional portfolio puts him front and center in many of the pivotal moments on modern music history and even if his name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, there’s no mistaking his unique and distinctive sound. Simply put, Al McKay is the real McCoy. Now, Al McKay steps to center stage and into the musical spotlight with Ollie Woodson. Ollie was a lead singer of the iconic group, The Temptations. Al & Ollie met when Al produced the multiplatinum hit, “Treat Her Like A Lady”. In the mid 1970’s, Al was approached by a freshly minted band out of Chicago with a whole new music approach, who called themselves Earth, Wind & Fire. The rest, as they say, is history. From 1973, when he first joined the group, up until 1981 when he left to take a well-deserved break from the hectic world of major musical stardom, Al was responsible not only for a lion’s share of the group’s instantly recognizable sound, but was also writer and co-writer on some of their most enduring hits. Along with founder Maurice White, McKay penned such EW&F perennials as “September” and “SingaSong,” which both became chart-topping signature tracks for the group. But it wasn’t only within the band that Al’s songwriting shined. As co-writer of The Emotion’s smash hit “The Best Of My Love,” he contributed one of the most enduring songs of the era, raising the bar on the art of pop craftsmanship in the process. As the front man for what became variously known as The L.A. All-Stars and the Al McKay All-Stars, Al fashioned a large and revolving cast of supporting players to fully explore new musical territory, even as they helped to celebrate Al’s incredible history with performance highlights from his years with Earth, Wind & Fire. A major attraction throughout Europe and Asia, The All-Stars have become a premier international concert draw among diehard fans of Al and his music, as well as a whole new generation only now discovering this singularly talented artist with a sound that belongs to no one else.