Erja Lyytinen

The "Queen of the Slide Guitar" quote has being branded about Finnish born Erja Lyytinen, and with that in mind, the guitar is mixed high on this live recording bringing the evidence duly to the listener’s attention. ‘Lockdown Live 2020’ was recorded in her hometown of Kuopio at the Bluesounds Warehouse Studios and was originally sold as a live internet show, and now with this audio and filming of the show available on CD and DVD.

Kicking in with slide licks, the opener 'Don’t Let A Good Woman Down' trots along, complimented by some classy organ playing, followed by the stomping ‘Cherry Overdrive’ from her last studio album ‘Another World’. ‘Black Ocean’ is my stand-out number, superbly riff laden in a Free/Cream fashion, while the rest of the set mainly pulls from Erja's latest album plus three standards from 2017’s ‘Stolen Hearts’. The closing track, 2003's crafted ballad, ‘Wildflower’, winds down proceedings perfectly.

A great sampler for the avid fan or as an introduction to the artist. Packed with quality songs and musicianship for the ever-growing Blues/Rock female fronted acts such as Joanne Shaw Taylor and Samantha Fish, to name a couple.

Tracklisting (CD and DVD): 1. Don’t Let A Good Woman Down (Voracious Love - 2010) 2. Cherry Overdrive (Another World - 2019) 3. Black Ocean (Stolen Hearts - 2017) 4. Hard As Stone (Another World) 5. Torn (Another World) 6. Dreamland Blues (Dreamland Blues - 2006) 7. Lover’s Novels (Stolen Hearts) 8. Another World (Another World) 9. Snake In The Grass (Another World) 10. Rocking Chair (Stolen Hearts) 11. Wedding Day (Another World) 12. Wildflower (Wildflower - 2003).

Geoff C.