We Banana Slugs receive our vegetables from a local organic farm, Live Earth Farm, that has a not-for-profit educational program - Live Earth Farm Discovery Program (LEFDP) - to bring school children from under-served communities onto the farm for school visits and programs (over 800 children came in 2009). On the farm, kids discover the joy of eating fresh & healthy organic food and the wonders of organic farming.
LEFDP is hosting it's second annual fundraiser on September 25th (3pm to 6pm) and is selling a limited number of tickets for this Wine & Food tasting voyage. Local Chefs, Wineries and Producers (including Farmer Tom!) will invite you to discover the alchemy of transforming the earth bounty into bursts of flavors for your palate as you travel through 7 stations on the farm.
Please visit the links below to know more about what Live Earth Farm Discovery Program is doing and how you can be part of this great event!
The Banana Slug String Band's Latest CD… We All Live Downstream Earth-lovin', Toe-tappin' Science Education at its Best.
Join in the musical fun as the award-winning Banana Slug String Band – Doug Dirt, Airy Larry, Solar Steve and Marine Mark – bring out their latest collection of earth-loving songs about understanding and caring for our precious watersheds.
As Slug fans across the country know, the Banana Slugs' music is contagious! Children can't help singing, dancing and laughing along… all while learning important science concepts. From ""We All Live Downstream" and "Thankful for the Watershed " to "One Little River" and "Storm Drain Blues," this newest recording – as with all Banana Slugs' music – has a lot to show and tell about this home we call Earth.
“We All Live Downstream" has been two years in the making. The process of researching, writing, and recording the album started with an Ohio EPA grant that launched the Slugs on a series of watershed concerts, workshops and interactive family performances.
“We All Live Downstream,” like the Banana Slug CDs before it, is being released through the small, independent Slug Music label. This is grassroots at its grassiest, folks! Because the Slugs would like to get the CD to as wide an audience as possible, we’re calling on you, our friends and colleagues, to spread the word.
This CD is an excellent vehicle for classroom and outdoor educators. The band can perform the material at school assemblies, bus-in school performances, public educational events, and conference workshops. Any and all promotion from our friends is warmly welcomed.
Praise for the Slugs and We All Live Downstream!
"The premiere eco-band in the country … Take this CD and do your part in helping to raise the next green generation."
Fred Koch Chicago Parent Magazine
"The award-winning Banana Slug String Band ... excel in presenting their environmental message with enthusiastic vocals and excellent musicianship …. An equally superb youth choir joins in on these ten bright and bouncy songs…. This outstanding album features catchy tunes that teach youngsters about the importance of a healthy environment, and teachers and librarians can use it to enhance the curriculum or for story times." *Starred review, School Library Journal
" ...an enlightening, heartfelt, and often lyrical celebration of water." Booklist
"The 10 content-rich, catchy tunes introduce watershed issues and help youngsters to gain a deeper understanding of them." EdPlay Magazine
"…rousing…a lyrical triumph… a tender-voiced, campfire-dwelling Americana wellspring of wetland pride…" Good Times
"Blues, gospel, funk, bluegrass, reggae, folk, they all get a sounding in Slugs' new CD, which features guest players such as Laurie Lewis and Tim O'Brien, both of whom are leading figures in contemporary bluegrass. If there's anything that the Banana Slug String Band knows how to do, it's to communicate sometimes complicated scientific ideas through the medium of song to school-aged children." The Santa Cruz Sentinel
Awards & Recognition for We All Live Downstream
2008 National Association of Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) - Honor Award
"High Five" - Featured on John Shelton Ivany's Top 21 new releases
We are looking for a million friends to declare their support for New Orleans and surrounding parishes. Please join
Friends of New Orleans!
Check our out DVD!!
"Dancing with the Earth" is now on DVD, featuring 10 minutes of fresh Slug music video footage and our 20 year retrospective Slide show. Visit our products page to order!
Support Slug Music! Order Slug merchandise online at our
"products" page. Or, by phone 888-32-SLUGS (888-327-5847).
We accept credit cards.
The Banana Slug String Band
is a group
of lovable musicians and educators from the coastal redwoods of Northern
California. The Slugs are "Airy"
Larry Graff, Doug
"Dirt" Greenfield, "Solar"
Steve Van Zandt
and "Marine" Mark Nolan.
With vocals, guitars,
mandolin, bass, harmonica, banjo and percussion, Slug songs range from
rockin' boogies to sensitive ballads; folk songs to reggae and rap.
Music, theater, puppetry and audience participation create
a fun-filled learning experience.
Have you seen the Slugs
in your area? They play at
They will even come out
to your school! If you would like to see the Slugs play live at your school
or other event, please contact
us with this online form!
Environmental educators,
interpreters and teachers: The Banana Slug String Band also develop curricula
and provide trainings and workshops in your schools so you can learn how
to do the Water Cycle Boogie and create a rainstorm right in your classroom.
The Banana Slug String
Band bring the FUN-damentals of science and ecology to you with characters
like Big Red, Zee Professor, Mr. Dirt and The Nature Man.
Ask your local venue
or school to bring the Slugs to your community for a magical musical adventure!
So Come on! Their shows
are filled with great music, humor and most of all FUN!!
The Banana Slug String
Band Mission Statement
The Banana Slug
String Band is committed to educational entertainment for children and
families through interactive music and performance. We are dedicated to
fostering positive attitudes about the environment, providing accurate
information about natural history and science, promoting music appreciation,
building self esteem in children, honoring creativity, supporting the
arts in education and sparking in people a joyful sense of wonder. Through
the production of tapes, CD's, videos, songbooks, picture books, curriculum,
activity guides, teacher workshops and concerts, we hope to make these
values accessible to an increasingly wider audience. We endorse and support
collaboration with other individuals and organizations that promote the
well being of children, family and the environment. We believe that music
is a powerful instrument for honoring diversity while uniting people for
the common good.
Banana Slug String Band
awards:
For "River Song" (Book and CD set)
2008
Skipping Stones Honor Award - exceptional books and teaching resources that encourage an understanding of the world's ecological richness.
2008
Moonbeam Children's Book Gold Award
2007
iParenting Media Award
For "Wings of Slumber"
2005
Wings of Slumber CD winner of, a 2005 NAPPA Gold Award,
* a 2005 Earlychildhood NEWS Director's Choice Award,
* An iParenting Award,
* A 2005 Parents's Choice Silver Award, and
* A Creative Child Magazine Seal of Excellence Award
2003
California Arts Council (CAC). Selected for the 2004-06 Touring Artists Directories/Performing Arts Roster
1996
Howard Bell
Award for Outstanding Contributions in Outdoor Education
For "Goin'
Wild"
2000
AFIM Indie
Award, Children's Album of the Year
2000
National
Park Service Audio Interpretive Excellence Awards
Amazon.com 5 Star Rating! Entertainment Weekly 4 Star Rating!
For "Penguin
Parade"
1996
National
Association of Parenting Publications Honor Award
1996
Parent's
Choice Audio Approval
1997
American
Library Association's Notable Children's Recording
For "Slugs
At Sea"
1991
N.A.I.R.D.
Children's Album of the Year (Nominee)
For information regarding materials,
cassettes, videos, songbooks,
and curriculum please contact:
The Banana Slug String Band
P.O. Box 2262
Santa Cruz, CA 95063
(888) 32-SLUGS, (888) 327-5847 Phone and Fax
To email any of the Slugs, or for information regarding
management and bookings
please contact:
The Homeless Garden Project
in Santa Cruz
is a positive force,
providing opportunities for homeless people
to regain their self-esteem, economic self-reliance,
and place in our community.
The Project and the training programs it offers are in dire need of your
support.
Visit their website
or call 831 426-3609 to find out how you may help.
Re-Use! Recycle!
The Slugs use 100% recycled paper on business cards, printer paper & wherever possible in our CD packaging. We also use soy-based inks wherever possible. For shipping materials – we re-use boxes & padding materials and, when we’re out of reusables, we use packing “peanuts” that are compostable. It is sometimes a challenge to educate our suppliers and the Green alternatives sometimes cost a bit more but it’s well worth it for the Earth. We encourage all of our friends to do the same (if you don’t already).