BLUESTONE

Bluestone's very own 'It Takes Time' was voted
The Finnish Blues Recording 2007 by a landslide in February 2008!

Check out the highlights of some rave reviews below:

Bluestone's first recording, if any, is a landmark in Finnish blues and stands comparison outside our borders as well. Matti Loppela's guitar work alone oozes intensity that leaves Finland's so called 'guitar heroes' light years behind. ... We have the first 'ten out of ten' Finnish blues recording in a long while in our hands!
Auvo Laaksonen
Jazzrytmit 4/2007

With just a fraction of the talent in Bluestone, many Finnish bands would have proclaimed themselves world class blues players. ... I would like to see Bluestone on most Finnish blues festivals... or to be honest: on ALL Finnish blues festivals!
Honey Aaltonen Blues news 223 1/2007

Blues guitarist Matti Loppela is a man of principle: an unflinching perfectionist. ... With 'It Takes Time' Bluestone is now where they belong: in the vanguard of blues.
Risto Haapsamo Kaleva 1.11.2007

Although their two sets lasted for more than two hours, the artistic level of their performance remained exceptionally high throughout. Especially of note was Matti Loppela's virtuoso guitar playing ... as well as Pekka Pulkkinen's laidback singing and his harmonica work which was rich in nuances. ... I can recommend artistes like this to be hired by anyone.
Blues News 4/2005 Vesa Valamies

The Bluestone philosophy by Matti Loppela

Bluestone was founded in 1992, the first line-up being short-lived. The present-day band dates back to 1993, with all the original members except bass player Miikka "Chef" Kivimäki, who replaced original bassist Timo Koivula in 2002. We recorded one EP - "Tones in Blue" in 1997, but "It takes time" , released in 2007, is our first full-length CD.

When we started playing in the summer of '93, we all lived in the same city, Oulu, which made practising and doing gigs a lot easier than in later years. Since 1994 I have lived in Seinäjoki and Pekka Pulkkinen has since moved to Jyväskylä. This in part explains our less than prolific record-making and gigging. Day jobs and raising families have taken up some of our time too.

Bluestone is strictly a play-it-for-pleasure band; we have never played very many gigs. I play the blues because I have to, I simply can't (or don't want to) play any other type of music. Yet I can't say that I have always liked the idea of keeping the band together; sometimes it has felt too much like hard work.

But the blues has such an enduring power that some little voice inside my head always says "keep on trying" whenever I think of quitting. This has been the case since the mid-seventies when I first heard Freddie King's "Help Me Through the Day" on the radio and was hooked. Totally. And here we are, some thirty years later with my first real record released.

In our repertoire you can hear echoes of Albert King, Freddie King, Magic Sam, Hollywood Fats, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Walter Horton and some of my other musical heroes. It is not our intention to copy their classic songs but rather to interpret them in our own way. We just can't do it any other way - we're no composers or copycats. Personally, I am inspired by many blues styles and songs and like to make lesser-known but good songs accessible to the listener. The blues tradition is such a vast source of great songs that not too many people are aware of. For me, playing the blues is an obsession. Oh yeah, the blues has got me.

Matti Loppela, November 2006

Thanks to Philip Toshio Sudo, the author of "Zen Guitar", for giving me plenty to think about when it comes to playing, and especially when it comes to living.