Erja Lyytinen

Erja Lyytinen (born 7 July 1976 in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter.

Youth, studies and influences Erja Lyytinen began playing the guitar when she was 15 years old. Around the same time, she started writing her own songs. In high school, she performed with various projects, one of them being a soul-influenced Brothers & Sisters band, in which she was the singer. At the time she was influenced heavily by artists like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. Later she found the music of Koko Taylor, and she mentions one of her favourite songs from Taylor was the piece "I'm A Woman" from The Earthshaker album. She also mentions Bonnie Raitt as a great influence.

Throughout 1997 Lyytinen spent a year in Sweden studying in Malmö Musikhögskolan as an exchange student. She returned to Finland to study music education at Sibelius Academy. At the time she was the first woman to study electric guitar as a major at that institution. and Tom Jones, and played with Joe Bonamassa, Sonny Landreth and Carlos Santana,

Her album Forbidden Fruit was released in 2013. The songs "Joyful Misery" and "At Least We Still Fight" were written in collaboration with Alan Darby, who has performed with Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney and wrote music for Bonnie Raitt.

European blues awards In 2017 Lyytinen was voted as "The Best Guitarist of the Year" in the European Blues Awards. She also took part in "Tähdet, Tähdet" (Stars, Stars), a competitive music entertainment TV show on Finland's MTV3.

A highlight preceding the Kaisaniemi, concert was on New Year's Eve when Lyytinen played in front of over 80,000 people at TV channel YLE's "New Year's Eve Concert". The concert was also broadcast nationwide in Finland.

2019: Another World and debut biography "The Blues Queen" The Another World album was released in 2019. The album combined influences from blues, rock, pop, funk and progressive rock. Jennifer Batten, former guitarist for Michael Jackson, and Sonny Landreth performed on the album. The album was mixed in Texas by Chris Bell and mastered by Gavin Lursen in Los Angeles.

Later in the same year, Lyytinen performed in Canada with Downchild Blues Band, and with the actor Dan Aykroyd. In August she was the opening act for Tom Jones at his concerts in Naantali and Oulu, Finland.

Throughout June and July 2019, Guitar World asked their online readers for their opinions in its '30 best blues guitarists in the world today' poll. More than 60,000 votes were cast between the site's list of nominees and following the completion of the competition, Lyytinen was ranked 14th.

On 21 November 2019, Lyytinen was bestowed the prestigious "Savonmuan Hilima" award by the Savon Sanomat newspaper. The announcement was made on the front page of the aforementioned publication on the same day. The previous winners have included notable designers, artists, researchers, classical singers and so on coming from the Savolax area in the Eastern-part of Finland. The award carries a long tradition, but Lyytinen was the first recipient to represent the popular music genre. Along with the award came a trophy designed by local designer-artist Ritva-Liisa Pohjalainen. The trophy is called "The Balance" and is made from black and white glass.

Lyytinen's autobiography called Blueskuningatar (The Blues Queen) was released in Finland in November 2019.

Her solo on "Bad Seed" was voted by Guitar World readers as the 10th best guitar solo of 2022.

Discography Studio albums Attention! (2002) Wildflower (2003) Pilgrimage – Mississippi to Memphis (with Aynsley Lister and Ian Parker, 2005) It's a Blessing (with Davide Floreno, 2005) Dreamland Blues (2006) Grip of the Blues (2008) Voracious Love (2010) Forbidden Fruit (2013) The Sky Is Crying (2014) Stolen Hearts (2017) Another World (2019) Waiting For the Daylight (2022) Smell The Roses (2025)

Live albums Songs from the Road (2012) Live In London (2015) Lockdown Live 2020 (2020) Diamonds on the Road - Live 2023 (2023)

Honours and awards European Blues Awards: Best Guitarist 2017 Finnish Blues Awards: Best Artist 2016 Bluesmatters: International Artist 2016 Independent Blues Broadcasters Association (UK): Live In London #1 IBBA Chart June 2015 Canada´s Blues Underground Network: Sky Is Crying Best Tribute Album 2014 Canada´s Blues Underground Network: Sky Is Crying Best European Blues Album 2014 Savon Sanomat newspaper: "Savonmuan Hilima" award 2019

DVDs Ruf's Blues Caravan – The New Generation (with Aynsley Lister and Ian Parker, 2006) Songs From The Road Live In London