Banana Slug String Band
Gig Seeker Pro

Banana Slug String Band

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band World Children's Music

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"The Premiere Eco-Band"

"[T]he premiere eco-band in the country... Take this CD and do your part in helping to raise the next green generation. ...concise lyrics, memorable melodies and well-thought-out musical arrangements." - Chicago Parent Magazine


"Starred Review ***"

"...with enthusiastic vocals and excellent musicianship... [and] an equally superb youth choir ... 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." - School Library Journal


"Best Children's Performers..."

"The BANANA SLUG STRING BAND is by far the best educational children's performance group and teacher workshop presenters that I've ever seen."


- Craig Strang, Director, MARE Lawrence Hall of Science


"Elementary School Student"

"I like the part where you do the rock and roll stuff, and tell us to
save the earth!!
P.S. I am trying to save the earth!"
(From a letter sent to the Slugs)
- Anthony


"Chicago Tribune"

"In this vaudeville-style troupe,
the four musicians are "edu-tainers"
and gentle crusaders for the planet Earth."

- Chicago Tribune


"Monterey Jazz Festival ‘07"

The colorful Mr. Dirt (nee Greenfield) is part of the Banana Slug String Band, and he's getting his audience primed to help out in a song about decomposition -- that's right, rot. Or more to the point, the process by which dirt is made. Soon the entire audience is hidden by a waving, snapping mess of arms...their movements a rhythmic simulation of organic decay as the funky Slugs clomp through lyrics about bugs, bacteria and chemical breakdown.

This is what the Slugs do, promoting environmental education through jazz, blues and rock-based ditties aimed primarily at kids. Plenty of tykes are on hand, but more than a few adults have joined the party too. ...it's hard to leave the silly Banana Slugs, even if they are singing about rot.

- Festival Notebook


Discography

DIRT MADE MY LUNCH (1987 Slug Music):
Dirt Made My Lunch
Solar Energy Shout
Sun, Soil, Water, Air
Roots, Stems, Leaves
I'm a Tree
River Song
Prayer Song
Decomposition
Banana Slug
Newts, Salamanders & Frogs
Bats eat Bugs
Nocturnal Animals
Quail
With People I Like

WE ALL LIVE DOWNSTREAM (2008 Slug Music/BMI)
We All Live Downstream
It's a Blue Planet
Thankful for the Watershed
One Little River
Listen
One Drop of Water
Storm Drain Blues
Let the Wetlands Stand
That's Water
River Song

SINGING IN OUR GARDEN (Compilation) (2002, Slug Music)
Give Plants a Chance
Sun, Soil, Water, Air
Water Cycle Boogie
Air Cycle
Dirt Made My Lunch
Roots, Stems, Leaves
No Bones Within
Ecology
Decomposition
I'm a Tree
Take Time to Wonder
FBI

WINGS OF SLUMBER (2004 Slug Music)
Mother Nature's Lullaby
Wings of Slumber
Up They Get to My Sunset
Return to me in the Morning
Swimming With Whales
So Why Aren't You?
Singing to the Moon
A Season's Lullaby
Beauty
This Little Island
Ready For Your Dreams
I'd Like to Be
The Camper's Lullaby
Where Dreams Can Grow

ADVENTURES ON THE AIR CYCLE (1989 Slug Music):
Nature Rap
Air Cycle [Swing]
Brown Air
Lizards
Tidepool Boogie
Big Red Rap
No Bones Within
We're Animals
Ecology
Everything Needs a Home

SLUGS AT SEA (1991 Slug Music/BMI):
Ocean Communities
Tidepool Boogie
Life on the Shore
Butts Up
Giant Kelp Forest
Water Cycle Boogie
Blue Planet
Island Rock
Estuary Life
Ocean Rap

PENGUIN PARADE (1995/1996 Slug Music):
Penguin Parade
Noses
Animals are Dancing
Black Patches
Ants
Fishies
California Sea Otter
What do Animals Need?
Croak-a- Ribit
Go into the Night
Moose
Safe at Home

GOIN WILD (1999 Slug Music)
I'm Proud to be a Beaver
We Are Wildlife Too
Bison
Let it Burn
Roll Along Yellowstone
Old Faithful
Walking in the Tetons
Ruminant Chew
Baby Wapati
Grizzly Bear
Wolf Dream
Moose
Stars Over Wyoming

LA TIERRA Y EL MAR
(1999 Slug Music/BMI):
En Casa (Bilingual)/ la Tierra
Dirt eres mi amiga (Dirt Made My Lunch)
El Descomponer (Decomposition)
Soy un arbol (I'm a Tree)
Raiz, tallo, hoja (Roots, stems, leaves)
Caracoles Rap
El bosque de algas gigantes (Giant Kelp Forest)
Planeta azul (Blue Planet)
Rap Marino
Comunidad del mar (Ocean Community)
Pececitos (Fishies)
Decomposition
Dirt Made My Lunch
I'm A Tree
Roots, Stems & Leaves
Ocean Communities
Giant Kelp Forest
Blue Planet

Photos

Bio

The Nation's Finest Children's Eco-Band!!

The Banana Slug String Band gets wonderful letters from kids across the US all the time. Here's one of our favorites from a boy named Anthony:

"I like the part where you do the rock and roll stuff, and tell us to save the earth!!
P.S. I am trying to save the earth!!"

We love that because, in a nutshell, it is what the Banana Slugs are all about. We love to make real booty-shakin' music (we don't dumb it down for the kids) that teaches youngsters to care for and understand this precious Earth of ours.

Way back in 1985, four naturalists working for San Mateo Outdoor Education and Exploring New Horizons got together around a campfire and came up with the idea.

An educational children’s band, the Banana Slugs teach children about science, nature and caring for our precious earth! We do it through rock and reggae, bluegrass and gospel, folk and calypso.

The Band doesn't compromise the quality of music in order to reach children. (Kids are smart; they know great tunes!) As a result, we have had the honor of appearing at such fine venues as the Monterey Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

Our best known songs are "Dirt Made My Lunch" (now featured in the film "Dirt the Movie") and "Water Cycle Boogie." (Check both out on YouTube -- there are some great versions by young folks.)

Over the years, we have won plenty of awards, which we mention here just to let you know the quality of our music. Our album, "Goin’ Wild", for instance, a CD written with the help of ecologists and naturalists from the Tetons in Wyoming, won the AFIM Indie Award, Children’s Album of the Year in the 2000. Today teachers and outdoor educators across the US and Canada use our music in conjunction with their classroom lessons.

Over the years the Banana Slugs have had the great pleasure of recording with many notable musicians including Norton Buffalo, bluegrass Grammy winner Laurie Lewis, George Kahumoku, cajun Grammy winner BeauSoleil and pianist extraordinaire George Winston.

In March of 2008, the band released its latest album: We All Live Downstream, which is all about watershed ecology. They received rave reviews, including a starred review in School Library Journal:

"The award-winning Banana Slug String Band ... presents a celebration of all things water ... .... 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."

The Band tours nationally. They especially love to perform at schools, conferences and festivals. If you would like to learn more about booking an event with the Banana Slugs, check out our website at www.BananaSlugStringBand.com or give us a call at 888-32-SLUGS (888-327-5847).