This month’s contribution by guest blogger Eduardo Alonso from Glue is all about the blues, presenting a selection of older and new Finnish acts celebrating the proud tradition of feeling down and out. A tradition that also has a strong and loyal fan-base in the Scandinavian country to the far east.

Everywhere in the world blues is a genre with a strong and loyal fan-base and Finland is no exception, even though the Gulf of Finland is not the Mississippi Delta and Helsinki is not Chicago. The blues might be older than Finland itself, but with new artists bending the rules of the genre, the Finnish blues scene is stronger than ever and it can be found not only in small clubs but also on large-scale festivals.

Established in 1968, the Finnish Blues Society has been a major factor in developing the passion for music in Finland as it introduced people to new foreign sounds. Since its foundation the nonprofit association has published Blues News Magazine which constitute an entry point to black music in Finland, although unfortunately most of its stories are in Finnish. But the blues is felt by listening to music and not reading, and so here’s an introduction to artists keeping blues alive in Finland.

Wentus Blues Band (photo) has been around for more than two decades and present their classy electric blues sound on nearly a hundred shows a year. In 2006 the six-piece band celebrated their twentieth anniversary with a very special show that included guest appearances by blues legends Eddie Kirkland, Lousiana Red, Lazy Lester and Mick Taylor among others. The celebration was captured in a wonderful documentary called Family Meeting.

With twelve albums and a career spanning more than 25 years, the trio Honey B and the T-Bones is a well-known name on the club scene around the country. Their roots are in blues, but they don’t mind shaking things up with a little bit of rock’n’roll, garage or even psychedelia. ‘Alien Blues’ is their latest release.

Another hardworking artist is guitarist Erja Lyytinen, who has a very busy tour schedule all around Europe. She commands a four-piece band and showcases a neat slide guitar combined with the sweet melodies of other blues women like Bonnie Raitt and Sue Foley.

Jo’Buddy is a great guitarist and singer who has played the blues for nearly thirty years in different combos and projects. He currently plays solo or with his drum and percussion companion Down Home King III. Together they have a new album coming out this month.

Newer bands are stretching the boundaries of blues as they include influences as diverse as Tom Waits and punk in their music. Black River Bluesman (with or without his band, The Croaking Lizard) play rough and hypnotic Mississippi Hill Country blues while band leader Juha Juhola strums one of his Lowebow cigar box guitars plugged in two amps.

The drums and guitar duo Black Magic Six is ready to make some noise with the sophomore album ‘Doomsday Bound’, due out this month. It is blues punk á la John Spencer Blues Explosion having some laughs with Satan.

These and international names visiting Finland can be found regularly in clubs all around the country. In addition there are major festivals like Helsinki Blues Festival, Puistoblues (one of Finland’s biggest summer festivals), Rauma Blues or Pori Jazz that usually dedicates a good part of its program to blues. There is no excuse for not feeling the blues in Finland.