The distant but musically influential country of Finland continues to impress guitar fans and case in point is a way cool 2018 musical release by Kepa Härkönen called Spicy Tales & Spacey Tones. The twelve track CD features ten originals and a pair of covers by Freddie King and surf-rock legends The Bel-Airs. The album is tastefully packaged and overall, it’s a fitting display of Kepa’s guitar influences that run the gamut from Mickey Baker and Freddie King to Ry Cooder, Shadows’ icon Hank B. Marvin and jazzers like Kenny Burrell and flamenco king Paco De Lucia. Musically, the original fare encompasses surf, blues and even Cuban-Mexican rhythms that will intrigue guitar fans. A number of excellent musicians back-up Kepa’s rockin’ guitar vision, including Daniel Hjerppe (drums), Robban Hagnäs (bass) and more. With the success of Finnish surf-rockers Laika & The Cosmonauts and the recently acclaimed guitar based Southpaw Steel & Twang, Kepa Härkönen now carries the musical torch forward for classic Finnish instrumental guitar rock.