A Home You Long For

Zurich-based singer-songwriter Timothy Jaromir is excited to share his latest album, Hiraeth. Jaromir says the album’s name is a Welsh word that describes an emotional, bittersweet state of being. He says he hopes the album itself will evoke this feeling in the listener as well. “It’s a place that doesn’t exist literally; It’s a home that you long for, but to which you can’t return,” he exclaimed.

Although Timothy is based in Zurich, he has family roots are English and Czech. “My mother is from England, and when I was small we used to travel there a lot,” Timothy recalled. “My father’s from Czechoslovakia, but I didn’t get to travel there much until the borders opened again in the 80s.”

When his father was a young man he was in a soul band in Czechoslovakia. “He used to sing songs like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding in the Czech language,” Timothy said. “They even made records of those versions. In the afternoons when I came home from school, my dad would play music; either his guitar, or learning a new instrument. And we would often play music together. That’s how it all really started for me.”

In addition to Timothy’s English and Czech roots, his wife is a Canadian citizen, so they’ve spent a lot of time there over the years, and it’s where his last two albums were made. The latest recording of Hiraeth is a return home of sorts for him. Timothy felt strongly that the eight-song album should be recorded in Switzerland using the local musicians who have accompanied him during his live performances. Hiraeth released worldwide on November 6, 2020.

Although the release promotion concentrated mostly on Germany and Switzerland, Timothy says the reception has been more far reaching than just that. “We’ve had some attention in the UK and the United States as well. Americana UK premiered my video for the song, “River On The Rise.” And we’ve had some radio air play locally, which is always nice to here.” Timothy had a trip planned later this year for Nashville, TN, but that had to be rescheduled due to the Covid travel restrictions.

Check out Timothy’s Web page here! Listen to the full interview here!