Folk Art

For the past 15 years, the Roosevelt Arts Project has celebrated the town’s artists, poets and musicians with a performance series from October to May that includes an annual concert — scheduled for May 3-4 this year — from the home-grown Roosevelt String Band.

By: Matt Smith

Each spring, about a third of Roosevelt’s 900 residents pack the borough hall for the Roosevelt String Band’s two-night stand.

   The tiny town of Roosevelt is serious about the arts.
   Founded in 1936 as an agro-industrial cooperative, Roosevelt became known as an artist’s community when painter Ben Shahn arrived in 1937 to create a mural for the new school. Shahn decided to stay, and many of his artist friends followed, as did their friends.
   For the past 15 years, the Roosevelt Arts Project has celebrated the town’s artists, poets and musicians with a performance series from October to May that includes an annual concert from the home-grown Roosevelt String Band.
   Each spring, about a third of Roosevelt’s 900 residents pack the borough hall for the group’s two-night stand, scheduled for May 3-4 this year.
   "There are probably about 300 people interested in seeing us," says band founder David Brahinsky. "And the borough hall holds about 100 or 120 people.
   "We used to play a 500-seat auditorium (at the Peddie School in Hightstown)," he adds. "We packed it, but a few years ago we decided to return to a more intimate environment."
   The band dates to Roosevelt’s 50th anniversary in 1986. Writer Peter Berlinrut and artists Bernarda Bryson Shahn and Jacob Landau founded the Roosevelt Arts Project that year, enlisting Mr. Brahinsky for his folk expertise.
   "I was called upon to put together a program on the folk side of things," says Mr. Brahinsky, who also is treasurer of the Roosevelt Arts Project, "so I said ‘I’ll put together a Roosevelt String Band.’"
   Although the string band will play Princeton’s Fete in June, the annual concerts are usually the only time the ensemble convenes, except for a few rehearsals or the occasional benefit.

A self-professed "song collector," David Brahinsky draws on his deep love of music to painstakingly create a new Roosevelt String Band program each year.

   "It’s a group that comes together just for this show," says Mr. Brahinsky, a professor of philosophy and comparative religion at Bucks County Community College. "We have busy lives outside, so we don’t get together that often."
   The Roosevelt String Band initially consisted of Mr. Brahinsky and Paul Prestopino, son of Roosevelt artist Gregorio Prestopino and a sideman for Peter, Paul and Mary. The current line-up includes Mr. Brahinsky on lead vocals, guitar and bass; Mr. Prestopino plays dobro, guitar, banjo and mandolin; Ed Cedar handles the bass, guitar, mandolin and fiddle, and sings on one song; Howie Jacobson switches between fiddle, harmonica, pennywhistle and recorder.
   The group’s fifth member, beloved Roosevelt resident Judith Trachtenberg, died July 6, 2001. Mr. Brahinsky and members of the band held a special concert in her memory last December.
   This year, special guest Sarah Houtz, the daughter of a friend of Mr. Brahinsky’s, will add a female voice.
   "She lives in New York and is trying to become a rock star," he says. "Since she was 6 years old, she always wanted to sing with the Roosevelt String Band. Sarah grew up listening to a tape of me playing on John Weingart’s show on WPRB (Music You Can’t Hear on the Radio) every night going to sleep. And one day she’ll be playing at Madison Square Garden."
   Mr. Brahinsky is active as a solo artist, often offering healing-themed performances at the Princeton Center for Yoga & Health. He also is a storyteller, working with Storytelling Arts of Princeton and the Shoestring Players at Rutgers University.
   A self-professed "song collector," Mr. Brahinsky draws on his deep love of music to painstakingly create a new Roosevelt String Band program each year. This weekend, audiences can expect everything from a ’50s-rock medley of Everly Brothers tunes to Lyle Lovett’s "If I Had A Boat," to selections from Woody Guthrie, Judy Collins and the Weavers.
   "I’ll start to put together the show," he says. "Howie adds a few song, Ed brings a song and Paul brings a song."
   Proceeds from the concerts will support the arts project, including its effort to create postcards depicting the Ben Shahn mural.
   The concerts are an annual tradition the town’s residents can’t seem to live without. After one performance, Roosevelt poet and activist Rod Tulloss approached Mr. Brahinsky and told him as much.
   "He once said after one of our shows, ‘This is what Roosevelt is all about.’"
The Roosevelt String Band plays the Roosevelt Borough Hall, Route 571, Roosevelt, May 3-4, 8 p.m. Admission costs $10; $5 seniors/students. For information, call (609) 443-1898.