Andy Skib (born November 9, 1985,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

) is the lead singer of the rock band Midwest Kings (MWK). He spent most of 2009 on the

Declaration Tour Declaration Tour is the first solo headline tour of the American rock singer-songwriter David Cook, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of '' American Idol''. There were 152 shows in this tour, not including an extra show in Mani ...

with ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...

'' season seven winner David Cook. Skib has previously co-written songs with former David Cook bandmate Neal Tiemann, who also served as lead guitarist for their band, Midwest Kings (MWK). Additionally, he has co-written songs with artists Zac Maloy (

The Nixons The Nixons are an American alternative rock band formed in 1989. They found commercial success during the mid-1990s, releasing two albums through MCA Records in 1995–1997. The band is best known for the hit singles "Sister" and "Wire" from ...

), Hanson,

Graham Colton Graham Colton (born November 6, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His most recent album, ''Inside Out'', was released on August 14, 2020. Colton's songs have been featured on numerous TV shows including ''Am ...

, and

Jaret Reddick Jaret Ray Reddick is an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, podcaster and actor, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Bowling for Soup. As a voice actor, Reddick is known for his work ...

(

Bowling for Soup Bowling for Soup (abbreviated as BFS) is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar, backing vocals), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion, backing v ...

). Skib is also known for his most recent solo project, To Have Heroes. Skib is a member of David Cook's band, The Anthemic, providing rhythm guitar, keyboards and backup vocals. Skib and the rest of The Anthemic worked on Cook's second album for 19/RCA Records. The album, entitled '' This Loud Morning'', was released on June 28, 2011.

Musical background

Skibb's musical influences are Sting and

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't W ...

Early career: 2002–2008

* Midwest Kings *The Pearls * David Cook – Analog Heart *Bryan Jewett

2008–present

*To Have Heroes * Midwest Kings *David Cook – '' David Cook'' *David Cook – '' This Loud Morning'' *David Cook - '' Digital Vein''

Appearances

On tour

From January 18–25, 2009, Skib traveled with bandmates David Cook (born December 20, 1982) (guitar and lead vocals), Neal Tiemann (born December 22, 1982) (music director, lead guitar), Kyle Peek (born February 3, 1988) (drums, backing vocals), and Joey Clement (born May 21, 1981) (bass guitar) to the Middle East to complete a USO Tour. The band visited seven bases on their trip to Kuwait and Iraq and played songs from David Cook as well as crowd-pleasing covers including

Tenacious D Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "tenac ...

's Fuck Her Gently and

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

Hot for Teacher "Hot for Teacher" is a song by the American rock band Van Halen, taken from their sixth studio album, ''1984''. The song was written by band members Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth, and produced by Ted Templem ...

. In mid-February 2009, Skib embarked on a nationwide tour serving as rhythm guitarist and keyboardist in addition to singing backup vocals for The Declaration Tour to support the platinum-selling, major-label debut David Cook. Skib has had the opportunity to perform lead vocals on "Make Me" and "'Til I'm Blue" ( Midwest Kings songs) more than once during the run of the tour. The tour began at Club Downunder in Tallahassee, Florida on February 13, 2009, and was originally set to end in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 25, 2009. The tour was extended through the fall and came to a close on December 1, 2009, at The Fillmore in Charlotte, North Carolina after 154 shows. In mid-May 2009, Skib and bandmates took a short break from the North American leg of the

to travel to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

in the Philippines. The band played a one night concert playing to upwards of 40,000 attendees at the SM Mall of Asia in

on May 16, 2009. In mid-October 2011, Skib embarked on his second nationwide tour with David Cook, this time to support Cook's second album " This Loud Morning." The tour, which was co-headlined by

Gavin DeGraw Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song " I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album ''Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB drama series ''One Tree ...

, began on October 9, 2011, at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

, and ended in

Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters for the disaster and ...

, at

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

on November 11, 2011.

Music videos

Discography

Songs written

Songs produced

Studio albums

Single(s)

References

External links

MWK Official MySpace

To Have Heroes Official MySpace

Tour Dates (via Official David Cook website)

Andy Skib's Twitter page.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skib, Andy 1985 births Living people American alternative rock musicians American rock musicians American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock songwriters American rock singers Musicians from San Diego Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma Alternative rock guitarists Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma Guitarists from California Guitarists from Oklahoma 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists American male singer-songwriters