Introducing Erja Lyytinen: Live in London
Tuohi Records is pleased to announce the UK release of Live In London, the highly anticipated new album from Finnish blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, Erja Lyytinen. The album will be released on CD and digital download in the UK on Monday 8th June 2015. The CD edition will also include a bonus DVD disc featuring the 100 Club concert filmed in its entirety.
On October 7th 2014, Erja Lyytinen rolled into London's iconic venue the 100 Club for an evening of live music. At her side, Erja was accompanied by a crack band featuring long-time musical partner Davide Floreno, bassist Roger Inniss and drummer Miri Miettinen.
After three years as a cohesive touring unit, Erja’s band was on full form. The groove, artistry and undeniable power of their performance on that famed 100 Club stage has been beautifully captured in all it’s excitement on the CD/ DVD 2-disc set Live in London.
With a colourful history that goes back to 1942, the 100 Club is considered the oldest independent music venue in the world. During that time, a who's who of blues and rock'n'roll legends including Muddy Waters, B.B. King, The Who and The Clash have entertained audiences there. It's also played host to "secret shows" by the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Metallica, to name but a few.
For Lyytinen, however, a pair of concerts by American blues legend Son House – recorded at the 100 Club in the summer of 1970 and later released as Delta Blues and Spirituals – stand out above the rest. "He's one of my big favourites, and when I first heard that recording years back, I didn't expect I would someday be on the same stage!"
Photo Credit: © Tina Korhonen
The live album kicks off with an a cappella tribute to another Delta Blues giant, Fred McDowell, then gets things rolling with the help of the band on her own grooving Let It Shine. The next two cuts are by Elmore James and offer listeners a first taste of her 2014 studio release The Sky Is Crying.
A high-spirited and technically brilliant tribute to James, the album earned high honours in Erja’s native Finland (voted Best Album of 2014 by Finland's YLE Radio Suomi 'Bluesministeri') and abroad (selected as one of top three international albums of 2014 by Britain's Blues Matters magazine).
The live album progresses with an impressive block of original material: The shuffling Everything's Fine is driven by Inniss and Miettinen's strong and steady groove, while Hold On Together provides the framework for an all-out guitar duel between Lyytinen and Floreno.
Three more Elmore James titles – including a stunning seven-minute version of The Sky Is Crying – allow Erja to show off the full depth of her slide-playing abilities, but also turn the spotlight on Floreno, who proves that the band is more than just a one-gal show. For her part, Lyytinen stays away from slavishly copying Elmore James, instead offering a respectful but fresh and decidedly female take on his classic material.
Photo Credit: © Juha Seila
Although Erja Lyytinen tours extensively throughout Europe and North America, there are a few places she hasn't reached yet. The striking sounds and vivid colours of Live in London CD and DVD set will give listeners and viewers the opportunity to experience this unique musical talent up close and personal.
Since first stepping foot in a recording studio nearly 15 years ago, Erja Lyytinen has become a bona fide star in her homeland and a celebrated fixture on the international music scene.
She’s recorded a grand total of nine studio albums in places as diverse as Helsinki, Memphis and Clarksdale, Mississippi, earning numerous awards and honours along the way. She feels equally at home playing tradit ional and modern blues, but has never been afraid to incorporate different styles, including jazz, pop and soul, into her song writing.
Even motherhood hasn't slowed her down. Her most recent album, the Elmore James tribute The Sky Is Crying – recorded a few months before she gave birth to twins – has been universally hailed as her best and bluesiest to date. "Erja has seemingly achieved the impossible by both sounding like Elmore as he played in the 1950's whilst adding her unique flair and 21st century vista," said Blues Matters magazine.
Photo Credit: © Tina Korhonen
Born into a musical family in the town of Kuopio in Finland, Lyytinen quickly emerged as an artist to watch in her native country. She signed with Germany's Ruf Records in 2005 and recorded her international debut Pilgrimage later that year. Her participation in the 2006 Blues Caravan tour gave audiences outside of Finland a first taste of her spirited live performances and led to a string of successful appearances in America.
The follow-up album Dreamland Blues took her back to the USA to record with David and Kinney Kimbrough (sons of Mississippi blues legend Junior Kimbrough). That album was voted Best Album of 2006 by Finland's YLE Radio Suomi Bluesministeri. After two years on the road, she returned with her third album, Grip of the Blues in 2008, mixing hard-edged blues wit h 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 was unafraid to push the envelope. With 2013's Forbidden Fruit, she returned to somewhat more familiar territory.
Her 2014 album, The Sky Is Crying, is a dazzling collection of stripped-down, old-school blues recorded live in the studio, then brought her full circle. "I wanted to do a raw, down-to-earth slide guitar blues album ever since I visited Mississippi back in 2005," says Lyytinen. Her tribute to music legend Elmore James convinced even the most discerning listeners that her feel for the blues runs deep and that as a slide player, she has few peers.
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 magazine, who also honoured Erja as the #2 international solo artist.
In 2015, boosted by the overwhelmingly positive response to her latest record, Lyytinen and her band will be touring extensively, starting with a 24-show wintertime run through Finland. The tour will coincide with the release of a brand new live album, Live in London, recorded at that city's renowned 100 Club in October 2014.
Erja wouldn't be Erja if she wasn't thinking ahead to what's next. "I'm already writing songs. In fact, I've got 20 songs waiting for the next album." In other words: The saga continues…
CHANGE OF SEASON - FROM THE LIVE IN LONDON CD / DVD
See Erja live at the following UK Blues Festivals in June 2015:
LINTON FESTIVAL Friday 19th June 2015 www.lintonfestival.com
DURHAM BLUES FESTIVAL Saturday 20th June 2015 www.durhambluesfestival.co.uk
CLEETHORPES BLUES FESTIVAL Sunday 21st June 2015 www.cleethorpesbluesfestival.co.uk
DARLINGTON, DARLINGTON BLUES CLUB Friday 2nd October 2015 Box Office: 01325 363135 Book Online: www.darlington-r-n-b-club.co.uk The Forum Music Centre, Borough Road, Darlington, Co. Durham, DL1 1SG www.darlington-r-n-b-club.co.uk
SHEFFIELD, THE GREYSTONES Saturday 3rd October 2015 Greystones Road, Sheffield S11 7BS www.mygreystones.co.uk
BARNES, BULL'S HEAD Monday 5th October 2015 Box Office: 0208 761 9078 Book Online: www.feenstra.co.uk 373 Lonsdale Road, Barnes, London SW13 9PY www.feenstra.co.uk
WOLVERHAMPTON, ROBIN 2 Wednesday 7th October 2015 Box Office: 01902 401211 Book Online: www.therobin.co.uk 20-28 Mount Pleasant, Bilston, West Midlands WV14 7LJ www.therobin.co.uk
EDINBURGH, VOODOO ROOMS Thursday 8th October 2015 Box Office: 0131 556 7060 Book Online: www.ticketweb.co.uk 19a West Register Street, Edinburgh EH2 2AA www.thevoodoorooms.com
KEIGHLEY, KEIGHLEY BLUES CLUB Friday 9th October 2015 Box Office: 01535 600310 Book Online: www.keighleybluesclub.net Hall Of Fame Bar, Royd Ings Avenue, Keighley, BD21 3RF www.keighleybluesclub.net
OXFORD, HAVEN MUSIC CLUB Monday 12th October 2015 Box Office: 01865 244516 Book Online: www.wegottickets Bullingdon, 162 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UE www.havenclub.co.uk
EVESHAM, IRON ROAD Wednesday 14th October 2015 Box Office: 07831338277 Book Online: www.wegottickets The Railway Hotel, 140 High Street, WR114EJ www.theironroad.sqwiz.co.uk
CHISLEHURST, BEAVERWOOD CLUB Thursday 15th October 2015 Box Office: 0208 761 9078 Book Online: www.feenstra.co.uk Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6HF www.feenstra.co.uk
SUTTON, BOOM BOOM CLUB Friday 16th October 2015 Box Office: 0208 761 9078 Book Online: www.feenstra.co.uk Sutton, Surrey SM1 2EY www.feenstra.co.uk
CHESTER, CHESTER BLUES FESTIVAL Saturday 17th October 2015 Box Office: 01472 349222 Book Online: www.chesterbluesfestival.co.uk 1 Station Road, Chester, Cheshire West and Chester CH1 3DR www.chesterbluesfestival.co.uk
FROME, FROME BLUES FESTIVAL Sunday 18th October 2015 Box Office: 01472 349222 Book Online: www.fromebluesfestival.co.uk Market Yard, Frome, Somerset BA11 1BE www.fromebluesfestival.co.uk
