FINNISHGUITAR MAVERICK Erja Lyytinen has been putting her own spin on the blues for close to two decades, in the process earning a European Guitarist of the Year award, sharing stages with the likes of Carlos Santana and playing to more than 80,000 in her hometown of Helsinki for a televised New Year’s Eve concert. In addition to approaching the blues from a fresh perspective both musically and geographically, she possesses a powerful, emotive voice and a devastating slide technique. It’s no wonder her 2019 autobiography was titled Blueskuningatar (The Blues Queen).
You released a live album, Lockdown Live, during the pandemic. How did that work?