They are no different than any other band, except for the fact that The Banana Slug String Band has endured for 40 years. Four men, with four dynamic characters. Doug “Dirt” Greenfield, “Airy” Larry Graff, “Solar” Steve Van Zandt, and “Marine” Mark Nolan. Each inhabiting a precise image, like Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po, but more elemental (earth, air, sun and water).
The Banana Slug String Band has toured the world, and been heard by millions, but what keeps them going after four decades?
Doug Dirt explains, “How do we sustain this? All the children and families who have supported us. For 40 years we have seen positive changes in our fans. We hear about teachers that use the music in their classrooms. It’s just amazing. The impact that we’ve had, and the breadth and depth of that impact on children and families, for decades – for generations. It’s the people that keep us going through the darkness.”
While trees, clean water and air aren’t getting a lot of attention these days, this is nothing new.
“Back in the 1980s when we first started, there were a lot of gloom and doom songs about the planet,” says Airy Larry. “We even wrote a few ourselves. But, we made a conscious decision that we weren’t going to go that route. I remember us even discussing it, that we wanted to keep our message upbeat and positive and focused not on the problems, but more on the appreciation of the natural world.”
The Banana Slug String Band integrates as many different parts of movement, and theatre, and costumes and puppets and interactive sing alongs, truly flooding the zone, and soon the kids, around the world, are spontaneously adding their own flourish and spin.
“The kids,” Airy Larry says, “are the fire that keeps us going. You can see it in their eyes. Children naturally love the earth. It brings them such joy. It’s a natural, beautiful thing about being a human that’s given the right amount of love and attention, people can move out of feeling fear all the time. That’s the space we try to create. Granted, we act very silly and present it to them in the way that we do. Kids get it, they get it all. And they respond in such a way that is fueling me. It fuels me and makes my heart sore and it just recharges me.”
Marine Mark, as well as all the members, have been involved in teaching about environmentalism to children and parents since their early days.
“Looking at tide pools, watching sunsets, going whale watching, and going bird watching. We talk to kids about things like that. We like to sing about things that are inspiring. The most radical thing we do is encourage young people to go outside and discover the beauty of our planet. Then, they can decide what they want to do with it,” says Marine Mark.
Anyone who watches the Banana Slug String Band gets caught up in their engaging lyrics, melodies and costumes. Solar Steve understands that the best way to get a message across is to not be afraid to be silly.
“We always sing with humor and its evident that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We will dress in crab costumes, the kids will dress like crabs and we make fun of everything,” says Solar Steve.
If there is one quality about the Banana Slug String Band that shines brighter than the others, it’s authenticity.
“Authenticity is a great word and I’m glad you used that word because I try to,” says Marine Mark. “I use that word when I’m doing workshops with naturalists. It works best if you’re authentic. Then the spark of creativity can come through our music. We try to create unity through the messages in our songs.”
The band’s new CD is called Pollinator Nation and will be available at this special, early, 4pm show.
The Banana Slug String Band will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary on Saturday, March 29 at 4pm at The Rio Theatre 1205 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz. Tickets at snazzy productions.com.
By DNA
