An Interview with Jason Timoll

An Interview with Jason Timoll

by Ed Yashinsky

The coolest thing about Jason Timoll’s music is what it’s not. It’s NOT the babble of another flavor-of-the-month singer/songwriter spewing out another tired testimony to everlasting love.

True, Timoll does play acoustic guitar and he cites James Taylor as a major influence, but when he sings you hear the influence of Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Peter Gabriel, and Smoky Robinson as well. On top of that, Timoll has a knack for intertwining blues, folk, reggae and even hip-hop, while never forgetting that a killer chorus leaves a lasting impression.

Timoll is confident. It comes across whether he’s playing for a packed house or a near-empty bar. It also comes across when you talk to him. When he tells you he is going to make it as a professional musician, you don’t doubt him for one second. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that he writes great songs, is backed by what might be Harrisburg’s best rhythm section, and features a relatively unknown lead guitarist who perfectly compliments Timoll’s music.

Although it appears that Timoll burst onto the Harrisburg music scene in the past few months, his arrival has been more of a gradual process. A Maryland native of Jamaican descent, Timoll graduated from Dickinson College in 1995 and moved to Harrisburg intent on playing his music. He came to the attention of the Green Room’s Bob Welsh via a demo tape. Welsh was so impressed that he brought Timoll to his studio to record some tracks.

Since hooking up with Welsh, Timoll has continued to develop as a songwriter and a performer. He was featured on The Green Room...A Compilation CD; his live appearances have been generating better and better crowds; and there is even a little rumbling of major record label interest. Pretty impressive for someone who "messed around" with a bunch of musicians in college, but didn’t really get into making music until moving to Harrisburg. "In college, I wrote a fair amount of original material, but I wasn’t in any type of band," says Timoll. "I played with different people and developed my own style."

Timoll’s guitar style, while not virtuoso, has formed the cornerstone for his lyrics and music. "I’m sure I will never win an award for my guitar playing," jokes Timoll. "But I know that if I write songs that I really believe in that I can create great music, even if it’s only with two or three chords."

And that is exactly what many of Timoll’s original pieces are–simple melodies that combine the right chords with the right phrases.

After recording at the Green Room, Timoll got together with bassist Welsh and drummer, Rej Troup to form a live band. "Playing with Bob and Rej is incredibly easy," says Timoll. "They have been playing together for so long they can smell where the music’s going."

But the lineup was not complete until four months ago, when guitarist John Strout joined the group. Strout has not played in any area bands, but he has one of the more imaginative guitar styles in Harrisburg. "When I first played with John, I knew that he could do a lot of great things with my songs," says Timoll. "We are really only beginning to see how well we can all work together."

Right now, things seem to be working pretty well. At a recent show at Dewey’s Dry Dock, the band seemed right at home amongst the boisterous post-happy hour crowd that screamed along to standards like the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, but also appreciated the original material and less-known covers. Which is important since Timoll is still getting comfortable performing with a band. "When I started recording with Bob, he wanted to flesh out my music with a band," says Timoll. "That was tough for me since I’ve always written on acoustic guitar. I wanted to give it a try, but I didn’t want to lose the intimacy of the original song. Now, I am getting comfortable mainly because of the people I am playing with."

As for the major label interest, Timoll seems to be taking it all in stride. "It’s exciting, but we are really taking our time," says Timoll. "We are continuing to record and working toward putting out a CD sometime in the fall, but we’ll see what happens. As long as the music is honest and real, I really don’t care who releases it."