ERJA LYYTINEN BIOGRAPHY

Erja Lyytinen - Biography

Erja Lyytinen is one of the leading blues-rock guitarists on the international touring circuit. Throughout her recording career, the High-Flying Finn has released twelve studio albums as well as several live albums.

During the fall of 2023, Erja Lyytinen celebrated the landmark anniversary of the release of her debut solo studio album Wildflower with a special one-off show at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki. The night was preserved forever on the artist’s latest concert album 20 Years of Blues Rock!

As an artist, Erja Lyytinen’s musical growth has seen the High Flying Finn continue to evolve, push boundaries without fear of exploring new sounds and musical ground. In that respect, Lyytinen intends to not make the same record twice.

The artist’s last studio album Waiting for the Daylight was released in 2022 and was ranked #3 on Finland´s Official Physical Album Charts and #14 on the IBBA October Charts in the UK.

Having first entered a recording studio some 22 years ago, singer/guitarist Erja Lyytinen has become a bona fide star in her homeland and a fixture on the international music scene. In that time, "the Finnish slide goddess" (The Blues Magazine) has recorded in places as diverse as Helsinki, London, and Memphis, earning numerous accolades along the way.

Lyytinen’s musical pallet is vast, encompassing the very best of contemporary blues-rock whilst inspired and influenced by the blues greats of yore. Celebrated slide guitar master Sonny Landreth, upon discovering Lyytinen's music remarked: "I sure enjoyed her guitar skills. She’s obviously made a big name for herself. Things are going well for her and for good reason."

Born into a musical family in the town of Kuopio, Lyytinen quickly emerged as an artist to watch in her native country. She recorded her international debut Pilgrimage after signing with Germany's prestigious Ruf Records label in 2005. The 2006 Blues Caravan tour gave audiences in Europe and the United States a first taste of her spirited live performances.

The solo follow-up Dreamland Blues took her back to the USA to record with David and Kinney Kimbrough (sons of Mississippi blues legend Junior Kimbrough). After two years on the road, she returned with Grip of the Blues in 2008, mixing hard-edged blues with modern R&B. Her 2010 release Voracious Love was even more adventurous: The lavishly orchestrated "Bed of Roses" – featuring contributions from Marco Hietala (Nightwish) on vocals and Apocalyptica cellist Paavo Lötjönen – showed once and for all that Lyytinen is unafraid to push the stylistic envelope. With 2013's Forbidden Fruit, she returned to more familiar territory.

Canada's Blues Underground Network chose The Sky Is Crying as Best European Blues Album and Best Tribute Album of 2014. It also placed in the top three international albums of 2014 as chosen by writers at Britain's Blues Matters, who also honoured Erja as the #2 international solo artist.

The Elmore James tribute The Sky Is Crying proved to be a breakthrough. Released in 2014, it was universally hailed as her best and bluesiest recording to date. This collection of stripped-down, old-school blues convinced even the most discerning listeners that Lyytinen's feel for the blues runs deep and that as a slide player, she has few peers. Live in London, a sizzling live set of Elmore James covers, and original material released a year later, culminated with Erja being voted the #1 international solo artist by Blues Matters and Artist of the Year at the Finnish Blues Awards.

For Lyytinen’s 2017 studio album Stolen Hearts, the Finnish Bandleader amassed a talented group of musicians in Helsinki during the summer of 2016, then ventured to London's State of the Ark Studios to record with multi-platinum selling engineer and producer Chris Kimsey, known above all for his contributions to classic Rolling Stones albums like Sticky Fingers and Some Girls. In fact, Stolen Hearts was mixed on the very same EMI console Kimsey had often used with the Stones. "Chris said it was like meeting an old girlfriend after many years. He sat in front of the desk and his magic started to happen." Mastering was completed at Air Studios Mastering (part of the world-famous Air Studios started by Beatles producer George Martin) by Ray Staff, whose credits include iconic rock albums such as David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and Mott The Hoople's All The Young Dudes.

Stolen Hearts was released at a time when Erja Lyytinen was broadening her horizons. In the run-up to its release, Lyytinen played a sold-out tour of Finland with her compatriot the late great Heikki Silvennoinen and made her first-ever concert appearances in India. She recalls the process of making the record "purifying" – the product of difficult times of "heartbreak, frustration, disappointment, fear of loss and yet, at the same time, the deepest love."

In the months that followed the release of Stolen Hearts, Lyytinen undertook two successful tours throughout the UK and her Blue Christmas tour with Sami Saari and Maria Hänninen across Finland. She also took part in the Finnish TV-show Tähdet, Tähdet (Stars, Stars) and sang for half a million people each week. The icing on the cake came in late November 2017 when it was announced that Erja won a European Blues Award for “Best Guitarist”. In December 2017, Erja was voted the 7th best blues guitarist in a poll of The MusicRadar in which 136,000 votes were cast.

In June 2018 Erja got to open for Santana at Helsinki’s Kaisaniemi Park. Carlos Santana invited Erja to play on stage in front of 20,000 people. “It was inspiring to see her play. It was from the future and I like the future” Santana said giving her a nickname “Lightning” referring to Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Another World marked the next chapter in both her personal and professional life. “While Stolen Hearts was made during tough times,” she reflects, “Another World is like spring, bringing in new fresh life and hope. The whole album is rockier and funkier, with elements of blues, pop, hard-rock, prog-rock – one song even has an Irish vibe.”

With Another World Lyytinen called in a whole raft of her esteemed friends and colleagues that include slide guitar wizard Sonny Landreth and former Michael Jackson guitarist Jennifer Batten. With each of the nine songs featured on Another World, the Scandinavian guitar virtuoso elevated herself as both a songwriter and an artist and has truly pushed the boundaries of her musicianship whilst exploring areas above and beyond the traditional blues arena.

A global team effort that included Lyytinen’s first Producer credit, Another World was recorded, mixed, and mastered by an international ensemble of world-class professionals. The songs passed through several locations including Gavin Lurssen’s Grammy-winning Lurssen Mastering in LA, while the mix was crafted by Austin, Texas legend Chris Bell.

Throughout 2019 Lyytinen completely embraced the idea of stepping into new territories both musically and geographically during a year which saw the artist cross the Atlantic on several occasions whilst undertaking several shows in Canada. The highlight of which being a performance alongside Hollywood star and Blues Brother - Dan Aykroyd as part of a collaboration with the Downchild Blue’s Band at the Toronto Jazz Festival.

Likewise, the gifted guitarist is not afraid to explore new musical avenues or work with artists outside of the blues genre. Midway through 2019, Lyytinen was honoured to support legendary Welsh singer/songwriter Sir Tom Jones during his Finnish tour.

Following the release of Another World Lyytinen’s personal growth and self-expression has not always been musical. The versatile artist added another string to her bow by releasing her first book. The biography, which is titled Blues Queen (Blueskuningatar), was released in the final quarter of 2019. Although initially it was released in Finnish, the gifted guitarist went on to release the book with an English translation.

Erja Lyytinen kick-started 2020 with a run of headline shows throughout mainland Europe before returning to her homeland of Finland for an extensive domestic tour during February and March.

Lyytinen was amid one of her busiest years to date when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Her touring and promotional activities had been catalyzed by a string of high-profile achievements during 2019. With overseas travel restricted and large gatherings prohibited, several months of touring were sadly cancelled or rescheduled.

Throughout the first half of 2020, with activities limited due to the lockdown, Lyytinen began work on new ventures such as the development of her own brand of tea namely ‘The Blues Queen’, working on her first song book as well as reworking her recent biographical book into new languages.

In June ‘2020 Lyytinen was voted Number 2 on Total Guitar’s "10 World's Best Guitarists Now” poll, an achievement that was celebrated by the media at home in Finland. During the same month the artist also had the opportunity to perform a much celebrated and historic live stream from the top of the Novapolis building in Kuopio, which was watched by tens of thousands of viewers around the world.

During the precarious days of the COVID-19 pandemic Lyytinen returned to her hometown of Kuopio on Mother’s Day Eve to perform as part of an exclusive online pay per view event. That monumental occasion is now represented as the artist’s third live album, the rather unique and historic ‘Lockdown Live 2020’ CD/DVD package, which was released in November 2020.

Erja’s 2022 studio album Waiting For The Daylight was released to critical acclaim. The first single released from said album, Bad Seed was chosen as the 13th Best Rock Song of the year by Classic Rock Magazine. Furthermore, Lyytinen’s guitar solo from “Bad Seed” reached 10th place in Guitar World’s Best guitar solo of 2022 reader's poll.

Erja made history by being the first Finnish artist nominated at Canada´s Maple Blues Awards in the B.B. King International Artist of the Year category.

On 6th December 2022 - Independence Day in Finland, the Queen of the Slide guitar was cordially invited to the Presidential Castle. An event that rounded out a wonderful year in a fitting fashion.

In December 2024, Erja Lyytinen released her latest live album 20 Years of Blues Rock! The concert album continues to chronicle Erja’s career on stage by following in the footsteps of previous live albums such as Songs from the Road (2012), Live in London (2015), Lockdown Live (2020) and Diamonds on the Road – Live (2023).

Lyytinen has been acknowledged for her work by her fans, peers, and the industry alike with a treasure trove of accolades. This includes being ranked #2 on Total Guitar Magazine’s “10 Best Guitarists Now” poll as well as being awarded “Best Guitarist” at the 2017 European Blues Awards. Most recently Erja added a new moniker when she was recognised as an Angel of Rock at the HRH Awards in Great Yarmouth in October 2024.

The latter recognition follows the artist’s run on Finnish prime-time television during the fall of 2024 as part of the internationally renowned series The Masked Singer, where Lyytinen reached the finals of the prestigious programme.

Erja Lyytinen will release her latest studio album Smell the Roses on the 28th March, 2025. Once again Erja self-produced the record whilst presenting what she refers to as a “more edgier” songs. “Topics like forgiveness, hope, lust, loss and betrayal have been inspiring my songs along with my love for nature,” confirms Erja. She adds: “Titles like "Going to Hell, "Abyss", and "Empty Hours" probably tell a lot - this isn’t just an album played in a major chord with a smile on your face,” laughs Erja. “The album is a lot heavier than my previous ones, but it does still lift you up.”

The artist's busy touring schedule will see Erja Lyytinen perform across Europe and the UK during 2025. For further information, please visit https://erjalyytinen.com/