Following her successful 2024 UK tour, internationally acclaimed guitarist, and singer/songwriter Erja Lyytinen will be making a welcome return in 2025 and embark on an 11-date UK tour from 2nd – 12th April.
She will be performing songs from her new live CD+DVD album 20 Years of Blues Rock!, plus her back catalogue, and new songs from her forthcoming studio album to be released on 28th March next year.
“Last time we toured the UK was Spring 2024,” said the guitarist. “It was so cool to meet my friends and fans at several club and festival gigs during those two weeks. Stopping along the way to take in the breathtaking scenery in Scotland, going to tea houses and enjoying a pint or two was lovely.
“The most exciting part was probably when I finally got to drive in the UK in the left sided traffic! That had been something I wanted to do on all my UK tours. I drove six hours from York to Southampton! That box is now checked on my to-do-list.”
When she returns in 2025, she and her band are unlikely to be sightseeing this time round, as she explained: “In April 2025 we will play eleven dates in the UK with no off days! Our touring schedule is crazy, and the band never run out of energy.
“I’m especially excited about the fact that we will be renewing our set list with songs from our new album! It´s going to be so cool planning the setlist. We will perform old gems and new tunes for a rocking 100 minutes on stage. Expect a lot of slide guitar playing. I’m also planning to take a few more new guitars with me on tour. So, it will be a thrilling tour in many ways!
“We are also releasing the live recording 20 Years of Blues Rock! taken from my anniversary show that was held at the legendary Tavastia Club in Helsinki during the fall of 2023. Several of my bands and collaborators from the past 20 years were featured that night, so it’s a nice celebration of my career as a recording artist. The album will be released as a double CD/DVD package for the Christmas holidays.”
Reflecting on the story behind the live album 20 Years of Blues Rock! she remarked, “Though I was just twenty-something, I had been active in the music scene since my early years. I had played in my parents’ band at dance halls since I was fifteen, I had been on TV shows and played all kinds of gigs from weddings to rock clubs. I couldn’t imagine what the future would bring, but I wanted to play lead electric guitar and sing and write my own songs. Twenty years after that festival performance I was standing on stage at the legendary Tavastia Club in downtown Helsinki in front of a sold-out audience performing with a bunch of different musicians I had been playing with since 2003.
“I thought it was about to time to make a tribute to my band mates and celebrate those twenty years of playing blues rock around the world and making albums. Between my first solo album Wildflower (2003) and the latest studio album Waiting For The Daylight (2022) I’ve released several live and studio albums, recorded in the USA, England, and Finland. I’ve played in various countries all over Europe, the US, Canada, India, and I’ve had the pleasure of playing with the world’s greatest guitarists like Sonny Landreth, Santana, and Jennifer Batten. We have so many shared stories and experiences.
So, the time came to celebrate these years of growth and hard work with my fellow bandmates on this night at Tavastia. It was wonderful to rejoice with everyone and share this experience with the packed audience that had come to witness the spectacle once again. The event was three hours long and we kept changing the rhythm section along the albums we had made together over the years. I also had the opportunity to bring in two lovely featuring artists I had had the honour of sharing the stage with, Heikki Silvennoinen and Maria Hänninen, and they both brought their special energy to the event. It was also so sweet to have my twin boys Massimo and Dante announcing the show! It wasn’t their first time on this stage though, as they were there in 2013, but that time they were still in my womb!”
20 Years of Blues Rock! is available to order from here and in advance of its release you can watch Erja Lyytinen perform ‘24 Angels’, live at Tavastia on 18th October 18, 2023 via the video below.
This live rendition of ‘24 Angels’ is a slow burner, eventually blazing into anthemic blues mode, only to flip the switch once more and offer near-enough prog metal with some heavy duty slide work taking care of business, before returning home with the song’s embers still burning warm.
Tickets for Erja Lyytine’s 2025 UK tour are available now from here with dates listed below.
