Orleans Singer/Songwriter Shares Joy Of Music With Fourth Graders

ORLEANS – David Roth was a shy kid growing up in Chicago when a friend showed him a few chords on the guitar in high school. With that, a decades-long career writing, recording and performing music was born.
 
“I loved it, and I always came back to it,” said Roth, an Orleans resident since 2000. “I never thought I’d make a career out of it.”
 
Drawing inspiration from folk and songwriting luminaries such as Joni Mitchell, Simon and Garfunkel and John Prine, among others, Roth has 15 albums of original music to his credit. Almost 40 years into life as a professional musician, he still plays close to 200 shows a year across the U.S. and in other countries. He also runs three songwriting camps, including the Cape Cod Songwriters’ Retreat in Provincetown.
 
But Roth, who grew up outside of Chicago, said he was drawn to songwriting not just through his love of folk music. It also gave him license and freedom to express himself at a time in his life when doing so was difficult.
 
“Music for me has been a place to claim my voice, whereas when I was [young], silence felt a lot safer,” he said.
 
Last week, Roth spent time with fourth grade students at Orleans Elementary School, where they talked about music and songwriting and were introduced to different musical instruments. He played the acoustic guitar and some keyboard while students were also introduced to more exotic instrumentation such as the ocarina, a ceramic wind instrument with numerous holes that sounds like a flute.
 
“It’s soothing,” observed one student.
 
The Feb. 27 presentation in the school library was put on by the Friends of Snow Library and was funded through a grant from the Fred J. Brotherton Charitable Foundation, said Tracey Salley, president of the nonprofit Friends group.
 
“I thought it was good to try and bring it into a school rather than trying to have it at the library,” she said.
 
Roth grew up surrounded by music. His mother was a big band singer, while his father worked as a maitre d’ at Chicago’s famous Chez Paree, where he and his sister spent a lot of time in the presence of some of the biggest performers of the day.
 
“We grew up sitting in the lap of Jimmy Durante and Dean Martin and Nat King Cole and Sophie Tucker,” he said. “The list goes down the line.”
 
In high school he became inspired by folk music, most notably the music of Chicago-based singer/songwriter Steve Goodman, whom he called his “role model for folk singing.”
 
“I like the way the acoustic guitar sounds,” Roth said of his love of folk music. “I like the way it feels when I sing and have that thing vibrating against my body. That’s the foundational love of the music for me. It feels good. And that’s important, I think, for anybody involved in any activity, that you do something that feels right to you.”
 
Roth still remembers the joy and comfort that music brought him as a kid, and he still believes in the positive influence that music can have on children today. Ahead of last week’s presentation, he said he sought to explore what connections he could make with students through music.
 
“I have no expectations about today,” he said. “I didn’t do a lot of preparation except for the last 40 years. But I’m going to read the temperature of the room, see what’s on their minds and see if we can create something simple, meaningful, fun and memorable.”
 
Roth took the time to take each student’s name, and also made sure to give each student a chance to speak. For some students, music can be an opportunity to find their voice and bring joy and comfort.
 
“If all they do is watch me today for an hour or 40 minutes or whatever it is, and see that music is fun, then my work here will be done,” he said.

 Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com