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Smokin' guitarist Erik Koskinen has been playing and recording his own style of roots-rockin' blues and American music since he was 14 years old. Best known as an ace guitarist for artists like Molly Maher, Randy Weeks, Koskinen is son of a Houghton College professor and grew up along Lake Superior on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. His parents took him to a lot of bluegrass and old country music festivals, and he became a fan of artists like Dave Von Ronk, the Sir Douglas Quintet, Dave Moore, Spider John Koerner, The Red Clay Ramblers. When his parents divorced, he moved to a mill-and-factory town in New York. Knowing no one, it was there he learned to play the guitar his father gave him before he left.
Koskinen has worked as a truck driver, snow blower, construction worker, songwriter, producer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. He now lives and works in Minneapolis/St. Paul, with a regular Wednesday night gig at Nye's Polonaise Room in downtown Minneapolis. There he plays with Molly Maher as band leader for Molly Maher and her Disbelievers.
"Best known as an ace guitarist (for Molly Maher, Randy Weeks) and a producer/engineer (Trampled by Turtles), Erik Koskinen should also be recognized as a masterful songwriter and rousing country singer..." - Chris Riemenschneider - Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Mandan Hayseed "Mandan Hayseed is Erik's finest work since the record he released before this one. His dulcet tone and demeanor rival those of lesser artists like Sting and Bon Jovi." — Richard Medek |