Pepe Ahlqvist - Backstreets Of Blue (With Tomi Leino Trio Feat. Harri Taittonen, Lena Lindroos) (2021)

A distinguished member of the European blues elite, PEPE AHLQVIST (born on 4th of July 1956) is an internationally known Finnish blues artist. During his 50-year-long career he has frequently performed with many legendary blues artists.He has managed to maintain his popularity through the years by presenting fabulous and successful recordings with various bands and giving over 6.000 gigs and concerts.

Pepe Ahlqvist is a talented and personal singer-guitarist-harmonica player and a songwriter.

Pepe began his career in the turn of the 1960's and 1970's. CHICAGO OVERCOAT, his band in the 1970's, thrived under the shield of the legendary Love Records, wherefrom Pepe moved on to collaborate with Fazer/Warner Music for a good period of time. In the late 1980's and early 1990's PEPE AHLQVIST H.A.R.P. recorded several indispensable albums.

Besides Finland, the Pepe Ahlqvist albums have been released for instance in the other Nordic countries and in Middle Europe. The last one of the three most important Pepe Ahlqvist bands, THE ROLLING TUMBLEWEED recorded four albums that represent the absolute cream of Finnish blues. Pepe's most recent project, SF BLUES (Suomi-Finland Blues) started in 2002 with singer/guitarist Heikki Silvennoinen . So far there's been featuring top guests, and more is to come.

Pepe has been touring in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Luxemburg, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, USA and Canada. He has also performed as a guest soloist in a large number of concerts by international blues legends in Finland, for example for B.B. King in 2004 and 2006. Nowadays Pepe Ahlqvist works as a solo artist from acoustic gigs to big band concerts.

Pepe Ahlqvist was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Finnish Blues Awards in Helsinki on January 14th, 2017. The recipients of the Finnish Blues Awards are voted among more than 300 musicians, music organizers, and journalists in Finland. Pepe's career spans five decades, having started in the beginning of 70's. In 2016 he turned 60; to mark the birthday, he re-formed his most famous band H.A.R.P. and toured extensively. In addition, the double CD compilation "One Day Less, One Day More" was released.