Timo Ylinen is a classic singer-songwriter who draws his main influences from the great rock songwriters of the 60’s and 70’s. A life-long fan of fan of The Beatles his other influences include American songwriters and groups like Crosby, Stills and Nash, Neil Young, Don McLean, Jimmy Webb, Dan Fogelberg and James Taylor. His songs are often driven by the sound of the acoustic guitar and a soulful voice that has gathered many fans over the years. Growing up in the 60’s Timo was introduced to music at an early stage, first by the pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll like Fats Domino and then by The Beatles. In his teen year his influence grew with the music of songwriters like Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. He learned to play guitar with his close group of friends during his school years and this lead to the formation of several band projects. He also appeared on the theater stage performing in comedy plays and, as a highlight, in lead role of West Side Story. As a member of the vocal trio and group called Galleria he was signed with a recording deal with Hi-Hat Records in 1981. The deal produced a vinyl single release “Christine” the same year. Unfortunately Hi-Hat had meanwhile fallen into financial difficulties and went bankrupt before an album could be released. In 1984 Timo took part in a TV talent contest called “Kyky -84”. He performed successfully in the national finals that were broadcasted live on TV just before Christmas that year. Victory was awarded, however, to the young fusion jazz duo Riku Niemi & Severi Pyysalo who both went on to do great things in their field of music. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Timo worked, besides his work as a physician, as a session singer for top level artists like Liisa Tavi and Katriina Honkanen. In 1996 he started working on his first solo album of original music, a project that was eventually released by production company Final Mix in 1998. In 2002 Timo released a CD single consisting of two new songs. In 2006 he celebrated his 50 th birthday with a concert at the Jazzclub in his home town Kuopio. The concert was recorded and 4 tracks were released as digital downloads. 2012 sees Timo releasing a new album, a collection of his favorite songs called “Playing Favorites”. The album includes songs from Don McLean, Cat Stevens, James Taylor and many of his other favorite songwriters.