”Suomi-blues saattaa olla marginaalissa, mutta voi siellä hyvin-kiitos Micke Björklöfin kaltaisten tekijöiden”    Helsingin Sanomat

”Herranen aika mikä meininki!”  Kouvolan Sanomat

“Despite having recorded few studio albums throughout their career, Bjorklof and his band have built, throughout this last quarter of a century, a solid reputation and credibility as one of the most fresh and exciting live acts coming from Europe. The secret being not just the strong individual skills of each band member, but also their winning blues/rock formula, one able to embrace and to amalgamate cleverly various elements belonging to different styles, from Blues to Latin, from Jazz to Rock. Twenty-Five Live At Blues Baltica is a live record as good as a live record can possibly be. Highly entertaining, soulfully played and skilfully executed, the album confirms Bjorklof & Blue Strip as one of the strongest and most inspired bands around.”

Bluebird Reviews, USA

Lisäinfoa yhtyeen kotisivuilta:

Micke Björklöfin ja Lefty Leppäsen akustisesta duosta on jalostunut vahvasti ja tunteella esiintyvien miesten rosoisen-mehukas juurihoitoryhmä. Usein kuultu kommentti on että ”miten kaksi soittajaa voi kuullostaa kokonaiselta bändiltä!!! ” Micke & Lefty esittää perinnetietoista mutta vankalla omalla näkemyksellä varustettua roots&blues musiikkia, jossa yhdistyy iloinen Hawaiji-fiilistely Mississippin suistomaiden rouheaan perintöön. Micke Björklöf & Blue Strip yhtyeen sivuprojektina liikkeelle lähtenyt duo-kokoonpano debytoi vauhdikkaasti Puistobluesin päälavalla jo vuonna 2000.

Micke Björklöf, laulu, rummut, kitara, huuliharppu
Lefty Leppänen, laulu, slide- ja akustinen kitara, huuliharppu

Micke & Lefty is considered as one of the best and most interesting acoustic blues & roots duos in Scandinavia and Europe. Strong original material, excellent musicianship, acoustic instrumentation and both singing lead vocals makes them sound really distinctive. Their music features a rich mix of American roots music all from classic delta- and countryblues style spiced up with some country, rock, jazz and Hawaiian style, this is a real acoustic roots & blues music adventure. All this is backed up with explosive slideguitar, powerfull harmony vocals with positive attitude makes this duo sound unique and concert experience something special and pleasant to follow.

Ville “Lefty Willie” Leppänen is a world class virtuoso on resonator guitar and is considered as one of the best slide guitar players in Europe. Micke Björklöf is one of the best known blues singers and bandleaders in Finland, his strong voice can be heard on Micke Björklöf & Blue Strip recordings. On albums and occasionally also on live shows you can also hear bass player Chef Kivimäki. This talented young man came along just a little bit before sessions for the critically acclaimed debut album “Big Bag” (Bluelight Records 2004). As a trio Micke & Lefty feat.Chef represented Finland at European Blues Challenge final in Berlin 2011 and International Blues Challenge in Memphis, USA 2012.