Doug “Dirt” Greenfield of The Puffball Collective: Lifting Spirits Through Music
By Julie Horner
There are three places on Earth that resonate with Doug “Dirt” Greenfield’s inner Aloha: New Orleans, the Hawaiian Islands, and Santa Cruz. Better make that five or six places when you add bicycle tours of the Irish countryside, the Hug the Earth Festival at Lost Creek Reserve in Doug’s home state of Ohio, and Burning Man on the Playa at Black Rock City, Nevada. Truly, the founder of The Puffball Collective jam band and the kid-friendly, environmentally focused Banana Slug String Band finds — and brings — joy anywhere he lands.
Banana Slugs Everlasting
Doug became keenly interested in environmental education in his teens. Because he also played music, it occurred that he could bring music and science together to teach kids how to protect the planet. “Going out in the natural world with children, when you bring music into the experience,” he said, “it sinks in deeper.” As soon as he settled in Santa Cruz he began working
with Exploring New Horizons, a program that teaches kids about the environment through hands-on outdoor experiences. He’s been with the organization now for almost 40 years.
And that’s where the Banana Slug String Band first came together. Doug and fellow educator and naturalist Steve Van Zandt started writing songs together, whereupon the names “Doug Dirt” and “Solar Steve” were soon coined. Joined by “Airy” Larry Graff and “Marine” Mark Nolan, these green warriors have inspired positive ecological interactions through music, dance, and theater for millions of kids spanning three decades across 40 states and five countries. The group has produced a dozen award-winning recordings, which are played in classrooms and living rooms around the world. “We just came back from an Ohio tour for kids, “Doug said. “Seventeen shows in seven days and we rocked the place.” He lives for these opportunities to spread the gospel of environmental stewardship. “We go into the heart of a politically polarized community as four California hippies and basically build a bridge ideologically.”
A lifetime dedicated to protecting the environment through spirit-lifting music, Doug said. “We’re not rock stars, but we are very sustainable.”
Serious Musical Cred
The Puffball Collective, Doug’s jam band for adults who groove deeply, is fresh off the main stage at Strawberry Music Festival in Grass Valley. The group came together 9 years ago at the request of someone looking for a Grateful Dead cover band to play for a party. Doug said, “Yeah, I’ll do that.” So he grabbed some of the guys from The Banana Slugs and some other top-shelf Santa Cruz area musicians and formed the Collective. “If you’re in a 30-year relationship with anything, it’s a real commitment. We’ve gone through a lot to keep us together. Having a new band is like a new girlfriend.”
Doug plays bass and sings. He’s joined by Marc Sven (guitar and vocals); Paul Garcia (drums); Lachlann Kane (keys, vocals); Freddy Rodriguez (slide and electric guitar, vocals); and Gary Kehoe (percussion). “These guys are real humans with a musical vocabulary beyond anything. It pushed me like crazy to learn and study.”
Not to be confused with puffball mushrooms or the creature in Marvel Comics’ “Puffball Collective (Earth-616),” the name came from a necklace strung with puffballs made of yarn that Doug and his daughter, Grace, crafted together when she was small. The original was lost, but a new one was made. “I wear it all the time, so it seemed like a natural name for a band.” All the band members now sport one.
The Puffball Collective is deliciously musically diverse and offers an artists’ palette of beautiful textures. Funky, fun, danceable. Half the music is original, the rest is all over the map. “Bluegrass, Dead, Americana. We’re pretty eclectic,” Doug said. And the band is busier than ever as they branch out from the locals circuit and onto festival stages.
Hat tip to Santa Cruz. “I raised my children here. I feel so blessed to be ingrained in this community, connected to so many families. My ashes — I’m actually thinking of composting — it’s going to happen here.”
Check out The Puffball Collective this month at:
Steel Bonnet Brewing, 20 Victor Square in Scotts Valley
Friday, July 28 @ 6 to 8 pm
thepuffballcollective.com | bananaslugstringband.com
Featured photo: The Puffball Collective, l to r: Doug Greenfield, Paul Garcia, Fred Rodriguez, Lachlann Kane, Marc Sven
Julie Horner writes about the people and culture of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Reach out to Julie at leap2three@gmail.com.
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