Tim Hüllstrung

His style ranges from folk, rock and blues to jazz, funk and soul music, with a distinguished touch as songwriter and performer. Tim Hüllstrung, a promising young singer/songwriter and guitarist based in Basel, Switzerland, takes an authentic and highly idiosyncratic approach to his music. Showing great musical diversity and maturity, he nevertheless acknowledges his roots in blues and rock, as well as his passion for jazz. Tim's voice, soft, yet raw reaches out to the heart of the listener. Reflecting on his own life, and perceptions of the world, his songs tell stories, both personal and universal, that strike a chord in all who listen. His versatile guitar playing creates a colorful musical soundscape that underlines his songwriting with a creative blend of musical styles.
'Bird of Passage', his first recording, was released on CD in the fall of 2018, and is available on all online platforms since 2019. Born on April 9, 1996 in Basel, Switzerland, Tim Hüllstrung discovered his love of music at an early age. By the time he was 8 years old, he joined a local choir and began to take drum lessons. But it wasn't until he grabbed his dad's old guitar, at the age of 12, that he found his true instrument and his life was changed forever. At first, he taught himself some chords – enough to play a little and to write his first songs. As a teenager, he joined a school band and also started his own rock band. As a high-school graduation project he produced his own EP, for which he wrote four songs and played all instruments himself. While working on this project, his resolve to turn his love of music into his professional career grew ever stronger. His project won a school award, and after graduating from the Gymnasium Oberwil in 2014, he was also awarded the ‘Novartis Award for Graduates’. A year later he started his studies at the Jazz Campus Basel under the tutelage of Wolfgang Muthspiel. Here, he received instruction from renowned Jazz-guitarists such as Peter Bernstein, Julien Lage and Lage Lundt, and he still benefits from local professors and musical greats such as Lionel Loueke, Larry Grenadier, Mark Turner, Guillermo Klein and Jorge Rossy. In 2016, he performed with the Swiss Youth Jazz–Orchestra, led by Christian Muthspiel. At around the same time, he met the American Blues–guitarist Tino Gonzales, who would soon become his teacher and mentor. Gonzales, a gifted musician and highly talented and experienced producer, agreed to produce Tim's first professionally recorded album, 'Bird of Passage’, which was released in the fall of 2018. The record, which superbly showcases Tim's versatile playing and sensitive, authentic style, was supported by fellow musicians such as Paul Amrod, Simon Oslender, Johannes Hamm and Maleen Sutter and even caught the attention of some of Tim's idols, such as Bob Mintzer, Jimmy Haslip and Gary Novak from the 'Yellow Jackets' and Ruslan Sirota, who are featured on 'Nightfall'.