Janne Viksten - Blue Over Green (2019)

"Janne is not only a formidable picker, he´s just plain enjoyable to hear" - Bluegrass Unlimited
"I've know Janne for many years, and from the very beginning his special talent was obvious. This album is a refined and mature effort and a culmination of all the work he's put in to perfect his art over all of this time. Janne plays so beautifully on banjo, mandolin, guitar, etc, that the influences cross pollinate to create a sound uniquely his own."
- Tony Trischka
"Each piece I listened to has a unique flavor. The playing is so smooth and tuneful with good clear tone from the instruments. I recommend it to anyone who likes string instrument music."
- Pete Wernick, "Dr. Banjo"
"This is a very nice album" - Al Schmitt
The solo album Blue Over Green shows the many musical sides of Janne Viksten. His music is firmly rooted in bluegrass and folk but there are influences from Celtic, pop and and even from classical music. Most of the songs are original melodic instrumentals on different string instruments. There are two original arrangements of the songs by Suzanne Vega and Judee Sill. Janne does most of the playing on the album but there are several notable guest musicians and singers such as J. Karjalainen, Ninni Poijärvi, Elisa Laiho, Markku Lepistö sekä Pekka Lehti.
"It took me a while to write, arrange, rehearse and record the music, mostly because I wanted to have as much variety as I could and still have a common thread to the whole album and its sequence", says Janne of the production of Blue Over Green. "There were several songs I wanted to dedicate to my past and present family members and integrate into the album".
The album has received very good reviews both in the US and in Finland.