acoustically driven, alternative folk-pop

24 year old songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Andy Kuncl, in the space of five years, has managed to develop an impressively unique guitar style and stage presence. He's performed up and down the east coast--playing with other musicians such as The Kennedys,Peter Mulvey, The Nields, and Melissa Ferrick, taken first place in the 1999 North Carolina Songwriting Contest, and released 2 self-produced full length albums on his own label Missing String Music, all the while building a strong following of dedicated fans. As Greg Barbera of the Spectator put it, "Andy Kuncl's ambitious as hell and he has got the talent to back it up".

When asked what he enjoys the most Kuncl's immediate response is, "Performance! Performance is truly what I live for--sharing my experiences on stage. My songs are about me and 'who i am', and it's comforting to open up on stage and find that other people can relate to my music--showing me that although my songs are very personal, they are also universal."

Andy Kuncl's love for the road and performing was instilled at a young age--While in the third grade he auditioned for the North Carolina Boy's Choir and for four years he sang and toured the east coast with the choir. Throughout high school and some of his college years Kuncl continued performing, finding his home on stage in musicals, show choirs, chorus', dance productions, and he even worked as a dancer/singer at the Busch Gardens Theme Park in Virginia. It wasn't until his sophomore year in college (1996) that Kuncl took interest in playing guitar.

After playing for only a short while, at 20 years old, Kuncl wrote his first song "too quickly" in response to his grandmother's sudden death. It was then that he realized songwriting was for him--his outlet for expression. Kuncl's songs have continued to spring from his own personal experiences and observations and he has the uncanny ability to relate them to the experiences of his audiences.

In August, 1999, at age 23 Kuncl released his second album titled WHO I AM--self produced along with Chris Stamey. The twelve tracks on the album range from "missed opportunities", a solo acoustic recording, to full production songs such as "play". Kuncl approached recording each song differently, but wanted to keep some with his guitar and vocal tracks live--just as he did on his first album TOO QUICKLY. "Fading", on WHO I AM, is one example where Kuncl recorded his performance live, only once, and then added additional vocal, bass, and cello tracks. Unexpected things happen in live performance and in the beginning of this song the guitar amp fell over producing a sound that Kuncl loved and kept--you can hear, if you listen closely, voices saying "the amp fell over".

Kuncl's new album, WHO I AM, expresses his passion for life. He exposes feelings in the honest, dynamic style that is his alone. With or without a "missing string", his music exudes energy, and insight. As you experience the raw emotion of his lyrics, WHO I AM becomes as much about you as it is about Andy Kuncl.

"Playing his guitar like he was bent on breaking a string, Andy Kuncl delivers on song after song, using syncopation, irregular rhyme schemes and a sound that is about twice as large as you would expect."

The Chapel Hill News.