ELIZABETH ROTH'S CD LIKE THE DAVID

by Carol Elliott

For years now, eleven in fact, concert calendars have listed Elizabeth Roth playing acoustic guitar on Saturdays at the Tradewinds lounge and for twelve years, at Mi Casa Sunday afternoons. She was invited to play at three of the annual Gamble Rogers Folk Festivals at the Saint Augustine Amphitheatre.

While acoustic usually identifies folk, and Roth's repertoire takes in acoustic and folk music, she also does classic rock as well as a little bit of country, from oldies to songs of today. A singer/songwriter, Roth had put together a collection of seven songs which she wrote and four more songs, each one written by musician friends, three years ago.

She told the CD's producer, Jim Devito of Retrophonics Studios in Crescent Beach, that she liked his work and asked him if he would be the engineer of her "unusual compilation with stylistic differences, holes and flaws." He said, "It will be just like the David." David, of course, was the piece Michelangelo made from an abandoned piece of marble. As a result, Roth's own music and lyrics are in full complement to other musicians, also her friends, who have been invited to join in, making this an incredible work of artistic accomplishment.

"The way I've always treated creativity is not to allow the critic inside me to be part of it. I have always been fascinated with sculpture, as a subtractive art. You chisel away everything that doesn't represent the figure you want. I throw myself into my work without analysis and then I clean it up."

The Cd shows all the ranges, styles, and in a word, versatility of this seasoned entertainer, and gives an insight into the depth of the person creating the sounds. "She is surely a thinker, and very much in touch with herself and her surroundings", says another seasoned entertainer and fellow musician friend, Colleen Murphy. "There are moments in the music that de je vu me into memories of the best of Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Linda Rondstadt, Rita Coolidge, KT Oslin, Cass Elliot and even some Emmy  Lou," Murphy adds.

Roth is exposed as the consummate musician, both interpretive and reflective. "I didn't want to cover up the acoustic guitar and didn't." Roth made this comment because she and Devito added strings, brass and percussion. "Mood changes happen by bringing in other instruments," she said. "To four of the songs, we have added strings, because they sounded like strings to me. We did what the songs called for."

Greek and Roman themes occur through the project with references made to angels and gods. "What have I done," the opening line in "Plato's Regret" came from a famous quote by Plato, who said, " the life unexamined is not worth living." "People go through life doing the easy thing, not examining consequences," says Roth.

Roth calls her CD a  "happy accident, because everything fell together, kind of like the david since the idea behind the whole CD dropped into my lap!" Roth refers to "Watching as We Die" as a heavy song. It questions why God doesn't intervene to change things.

She opens the CD with "The Fire" herself as the solo performer. Since she plays as a single act, she didn't want her fingerstyle guitar playing to be in the background at all on this CD. She defines her sound in the onset.

"Get It Right" by Stephen Bifani is a song about relationships. It brings in a horn section with Chris Norton on trumpet and Chris Kearnes on the saxophone, giving this number a kind of funky jazz base. Roth's own "Walk in my Shoes" switches to rock with Mike Nugen on electric guitar. In "My Baby Keeps his Cool," Roth sings Mike Hart's brand of blues, delivering some gutsy vocals.

The CD ends with what Roth calls a novelty song, "The Lady from Space." She recalls that saxophone player Dick Kraft played this one for the first time with a sense of humor. "It's kind of a funny song anyway," said Roth. "Dick did some funny licks which made us all laugh at the time." A couple of months later, when the CD was put together, both tracks by Kraft were played together, and they realized they had a hit.

Roth was self taught from age thirteen. "I learned with a little picking instead of just chords," she told me. Later, she studied classical guitar and voice. She explains her clarity by saying, "I do like to tell a story. I like to hear the words." She's very expressive with vocal variation through inflection and modulation, pitch and tone. I have to agree with Murphy in saying, "What she has chosen to share with us is a selfless, naked and unpretentious walk through a beautiful spirit."

While this is a different approach for Roth, a solo act, she feels her audiences are used to her throwing in something a little different. "I throw it all in there and mix it up. That's what people expect of me."

She's wonderfully warm and yet cool and comforting in this CD and in my opinion, it is a must have for any music aficionado. This CD will be priceless in years to come. "It's long overdue and I hope only the beginning of more of Elizabeth," says Murphy.

Like the David is available at Music Matters and Turtles. Two CD release parties are scheduled with guest musicians joining Roth. The first one is May 3 at the Tradewinds Lounge from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., then on May 11 at the Golden Lion Cafe in Flagler Beach from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Roth will be making some road trips, so check her website for her schedule at www.elizabethroth.com