Joensuu Riihimäki are an americana roots rock band from Finland.

The origins of the union go back a couple of years, when singer, guitarist and band's main songwriter Sami Joensuu met guitarist Kari Riihimäki at the songwriter's club he was hosting at the time. Things clicked right away and the band evolved from there, hence the name Joensuu Riihimäki (JR). Both last names are also town names in Finland, adding nice touch to band's road imagery.

The band's mission is to combine singer-songwriter tradition of great songs and various styles within a roots rock group setting.

And sure enough, various music styles are what the musicians in the band grew up listening to, so there's a lot to draw from when it comes to arranging songs. The music of the band has been described as a colourful combination of earthy roots rock and heartfelt singer-songwriter stuff. Influences like J.J. Cale, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Joni Mitchell, The Doors and B.B. King can be heard living in perfect harmony with more modern influences as the musicians in the band get inspired on stuff like U2, Mark Knopfler, Jack White, Esperanza Spalding and Sting, too. A certain degree of pop sensibility can be heard popping up every now and then - more in the catchiness of the songs than in the overall sound.

Their first single 'Joe's Café Blues' was released on Puuma Records in May 2014. As the single was nicely received, Sami and Kari started doing gigs right away. Soon after, Joensuu Riihimäki won the 'Band Of The Year 2014' award in Turku Music Awards in their hometown (and actually scored Top 3 next year). The debut album 'Greetings From The Edge Of The World' followed in April 2015. The band did have a great summer and fall as all of the 'Greetings From The Edge Of The World' record release tour shows in Estonia and Finland turned out to be killer - not to mention the great album reviews.

So far, two singles have been released from the critically acclaimed first album: the aforementioned 'Joe's Café Blues' and the tingling ballad 'Freefall'. Both songs have been released as videos too, the latter being a great mini movie with the most tragic story you could think of.

Now consisting of four members, the band sounds more like a cohesive group than before. Each one of them bring their ideas on the table, including their heart and soul. “We don’t have to try to force the vibe - it's very spontaneous. From there, we come up with a balance of songs and instrumentation that we believe people will immediately identify as JR.”

The single 'Seven Days' was released in April 2016, and the highly anticipated second album 'Where's The Fire, John?' on July 1, 2016. Record release tour and rave reviews followed. After their successful Winter Tour 2017 the band went back to the studio.

The band are currently working on their yet untitled third album with the new single '(Keep On) Marching' set for late spring release. "Just like 'Where's The Fire, John?' clearly wasn't a 'Greetings From The Edge Of The World' part 2, this new one will break new ground for us, too. It's a fresh new direction while definitely staying true to our ROOTS.", says the band.