Ilja Teppo - Onne shares

Tickets €15 from Kellari's restaurant, advance reservations ravintoli@kulttuurikellari.com

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. 

Ilja Teppo is a real specialist in the music field. Although Ilja's songs do not play continuously on commercial radio playlists, he has been touring Finland for more than ten years, performing almost 1,500 gigs at events of all sizes and shapes. 

Ilja has been responsible for creating songs in many recordings, most recently with his previous orchestra Kaukolasipartio. His own solo songs, on the other hand, have practically accompanied him only on the road at gigs.    Ilja remembers the moment when the decision to make a solo record was made.  - In the fall of 2020, I visited singer-songwriter Jarkko Martikainen's courtyard in Riihimäki. I played my songs to Jarko and he said that we should start putting these on a record. It was such a clear starting point for the record project. 

Now the man has assembled an orchestra around himself and his songs, with Pertti Feller (guitar), Ville Karjalainen (trumpet), Tommi Ilonen (keyboards), Tero Hyttinen (drums) and Sampsa Asikainen (bass). The album's producer is Niklas Nylund, also known from the band Leevi & Leavings.    

When asked about the style of the album, Ilja squirms a little in his chair.  - Let's just say that the record turned out to be more pop than I thought. That's not a bad thing at all. The pedaling is on point. The songs are basically very singer-songwriter oriented, but with the producer and the band they got an interesting new kind of icing. I believe that people can find songs for different emotional states there. 

In addition to own songs, gigs also include covers arranged with a twist. Classics by Gösta Sundqvist, Tuomari Nurmio, Veikka Lavi and Jaakko Teponk have been given space at Ilja's concerts. Ilja also has a strong blood bond with the last mentioned legendary coupletist from Savoia. After all, it's a father and son.