Erkka Korhonen

Erkka Korhonen, born in Vantaa, Finland, started his musical journey with the flute at the age of 7. When he was 9 he picked up the classical guitar, following the example set by his older brother. After seeing a KISS poster on the wall of the school music room and hearing Richie Blackmore on "Death Alley Driver" he knew that he had to pick up the electric guitar.

Erkka's first real band, Urban Tale, was signed quickly to a worldwide deal in 2000 by RoastingHouse Music in Sweden. The band released two albums, "Urban Tale" and "Signs Of Times" and gained attention around Europe and Japan.

In 2004 Erkka formed Raskasta Joulua (Ragnarok Juletide), a Holiday-themed heavy rock supergroup which to this day has featured vocalists such as Marco Hietala, Floor Jansen , Tarja Turunen, Dee Snider, Bernie Shaw, Joe Lynn Turner, Geoff Tate, Tommy Karevik, Elize Ryd, Tony Kakko, Timo Kotipelto, Noora Louhimo and more. The band has released 7 albums out of which 6 which have all sold at least gold in Finland. Their 2013 release "Raskasta Joulua" has achieved quadruple platinum status. The band tours annually in large sports halls and hockey arenas to audiences up to 12.000 people.

In 2007 Erkka put together another heavy rock supergroup, Northern Kings with vocalists Marco Hietala, Tony Kakko, JP Leppäluoto and Jarkko Ahola. The band released 2 albums, "Reborn" and "Rethroned" out of which the first one was certified gold. Northern Kings returned to the festival stages during the summer of 2022.

In 2019 Erkka did his first shows with Joe Lynn Turner, who'd asked Erkka to play guitar in his band after the 2018 Raskasta Joulua tour where they performed together. In 2025 He did his first show with German metal legend Doro Pesch.

Erkka also produces, engineers and mixes music both for his own projects and also for other artists in his studio. He has 18 gold, platinum, double platinum or multi-platinum albums as a musician, producer and/or engineer.

2026 will see the release of Erkka's mostly instrumental solo album, “50 Shades of 6 Strings”. It will showcase Erkka's playing in several styles outside heavy rock, including bluegrass, jazzy hip hop, and fusion. Erkka prepares the songs by playing live shows in Finland with Andre Nieri and Lari Basilio.