Erik Koskinen

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“Writes like Dylan, looks like Hank Williams, walks like John Wayne, smokes like James Dean, and plays like no one else.”
— SPINOUT RECORDS

GLIDE MAGAZINE:
“In the vein of his close friend, Jeffrey Foucault, Koskinen’s songs are stripped-down, breathe the Midwestern air, paint character portraits, and have a deceptively haunting quality.”

Sharp and Powerful Roots Music
American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Erik Koskinen is currently on tour, bringing his singular brand of roots-driven songwriting to stages across the country.

Deeply influenced by American roots music yet firmly his own, Koskinen’s work resists easy categorization. He rides the optimism of the upbeat—theand-one-and-two-and—balancing it with a finely calibrated emotional range, a sly sense of humor, and the swagger of a prizefighter. A lights-out guitarist backed by a powerhouse band, his live shows combine musical firepower with close, human storytelling.

At the heart of it all is the writing: blade-sharp wit, love songs that feel lived-in and true, and a rare connection to place. Koskinen’s relationship to the rural North is integral to his songs, giving them a grounded, authentic quality that resonates deeply with Americana audiences.

“I know of few writers whose relationship to their own landscape is so elemental, and so integral.”
— Jeffrey Foucault

AMERICAN ROOTS UK:
“…melodies that stay with the listener long after the last notes of the final track have died away.”

“Erik is very much his own man stylistically. Sub-genres are no use at all in describing Erik’s music, and perhaps a new genre is more appropriate.”

MINNPOST:
“one of anti-country music’s up-and-coming stars.”

MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE:
“as dazzling a guitarist as he is an evocative storytelling songwriter.”

“the real deal”

“the best country songwriter in Minnesota.”