Erja Lyytinen

European Blues Award-winning guitarist Erja Lyytinen marks a new chapter in her career with her latest studio album, 'Waiting For The Daylight’. The Helsinki native proudly self-produced this her now twelfth studio release. The album was recorded largely in her hometown at Hollywood Studios during the first half of 2022. As with both of her previous albums, 'Another World' and 'Stolen Hearts', the High-Flying Finn further explores the subjects of love and loss.

For her latest offering, Lyytinen explains that she wanted to make a 'band album'. "My drummer Iiro Laitinen and bassist Tatu Back are doing a fantastic job. We practised the songs a lot before going to the studio, which you can really hear on the tracks. My long-term keyboardist Harri Taittonen joined on the album, which was a real treat," she says. “I also wanted to improve my guitar chops and guitar skills, so I was practising a lot, exploring different guitarists and their technics. I wanted to make a guitar album, with lots of guitar solos and interesting guitar parts, and a lot of slide guitar of course. In some of the songs, I have played over twenty different guitar tracks, and the whole album sounds huge.”

Erja Lyytinen was in the middle of one of the busiest times of her career when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. However, despite the challenges she faced, the entrepreneurial artist continued to develop new products and ideas throughout the lockdown period including, an autobiographical book titled the 'Blues Queen' (now available in both Finnish and English), a pair of guitar tuition books and the development of her own brand of tea.

Lyytinen’s musical pallet is vast, encompassing the very best of contemporary blues-rock whilst inspired and influenced by the blues greats of yore. And that respect for those guitar greats has been reciprocated throughout the years.