ERJA LYYTINEN ‘LOCKDOWN LIVE 2020’ is a studio-live album, that captures a historic moment in time. The album was recorded during the precarious days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coincidentally, there are also parallels between the current situation we find ourselves in and the award-winning artist’s last studio album Another World. Lyytinen goes on to say that "I recently watched the music video we made for the title track and it gave me chills seeing the people in the video wearing masks as they tried to survive on their uninhabitable planet."

Erja Lyytinen was in the midst of one of her busiest years to date when the pandemic struck. At the start of the year, Lyytinen was riding the crest of a wave. Her touring and promotional activities were catalyzed by a string of high-profile achievements during 2019.

Throughout the previous year, Lyytinen had been bestowed the prestigious “Savonmuan Hilima” award by the Savon Sanomat newspaper, released her first biographical book titled Blues Queen (Blueskuningatar), as well as being recognized by the readers of Guitar World with a spot in their ’30 best blues guitarists in the world today’ poll.

Subsequently, this fueled a 2020 touring schedule that included shows in the UK, Canada, Spain, Finland along with her first trip to Australia for an appearance at the world-famous Byron Bay Blues Festival. However, when the pandemic struck Lyytinen found herself caught between a rock and a hard place. With overseas travel restricted and large gatherings prohibited, several months of touring were sadly cancelled or rescheduled.

During the early stages of the lockdown, artists took their shows to the Internet via live streams. Lyytinen decided that she wanted to give her fans the best and most concert-like experience possible in this scenario. With this in mind, when the opportunity arose, the high-flying Finn headed to Bluesounds studios in her hometown of Kuopio, Finland on Mother’s Day Eve to record this monumental occasion. The concert was broadcast over the Internet as part of a pay per view event, and now forms the basis of this notable studio-live album.

This live recording takes a retrospective look back on Lyytinen’s long and successful career. And with such a vast back catalogue behind her Erja was quite literally ‘Torn’ between the songs to feature in her setlist and the subsequent concert album.

The inclusion of tracks such as ‘Wildflower’ and ‘Dreamland Blues’ illustrate the international artist’s beginnings whereas soul-baring performances of songs from her last two studio albums ‘Stolen Hearts’ and ‘Another World’ brings the show up to the present date.

Of course, Erja Lyytinen’s self-produced last studio album Another World marks the next chapter in both her personal and professional life. And so, the emotive nature of these recent compositions, in particular, heighten and add to the intensity of the live performance.

With Lyytinen having been separated from her band due to quarantine restrictions for several months, this was one of the first real opportunities for the group to plug in and perform together since their touring activities for 2020 had been interrupted. The end result is an electrifying 60-minute set where Erja and her band channelled all of their frustration during their energetic studio-live set. The band give their best, whilst enjoying every note they are playing together.

So, grab yourself a cup of Tea (The Blues Queen Tea, that is), sit back, relax and enjoy as Erja and the band transports you to ‘Another World’ live in concert.

Erja Lyytinen - Vocals, Guitars
Tatu Back - Bass, Backing Vocals
Miika Aukio - Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Iiro Laitinen - Drums
Olli Huttunen - Sound Engineer
Jussi Koivu - Light Designer

Recorded in Kuopio, Finland at Bluesounds Warehouse Studio on May 10th, 2020