If you like a bit of live music with your evenings out, chances are you've heard the mellifluous voice of Whitehall's Tim Harakal, ubiquitous at casual venues and host of open mics around the Valley.
Not only is his family full of music lovers, but his grandfather played in a four-piece band. “There was always a guitar in the corner,” Harakal says. “It was only a matter of time.”
Harakal gravitated toward the pull of meaningful lyrics. With one album-cutting exercise under his belt, he's in the process of generating another for release this year, full of the bright messages that help cheer us through life. A love of Metallica draws on the complexity, if not the sound, of their arrangements, while his foremost inspiration, Jason Mraz's early work, is more obvious in the gymnastic musicality of Harakal's voice and guitar.
It's a wonder he has any time for originals, playing out up to nine times a week, either solo or, most often, as a duo with Zach Jones adding percussion. At venues like Edge in Bethlehem, The Shelby in Allentown, The Hamilton Kitchen and Bar, SteelStacks—too many to list—Harakal's unique spin on folk and popular music shows his versatility and knack for curating a setlist.
It's the open mic, though, that has given him the greatest reward, ever since his first performance in college. “This guy Butch Imhoff ran an open mic in the food court,” Harakal recalls. “I had really bad social anxiety, and it was huge for me to convince myself to do it.” Now he performs for a living, and pays that transformative experience forward. “One of my main goals is to try to help the local scene along.”
Check out his open mics regularly at The Wooden Match and Tocci's Tailgater's in Bethlehem.
