Beachgrass: The Music
New CD - Winter In Paradise

 

Can't make it to the coast? You can entertain the Floating Glass Balls in your own living room! We'll trade you a CD or two for only a few dollars each.

Choose from our latest CD, Winter in Paradise (and get the T-shirt, too), our 2005 release, Ashore, and/or our first, self-titled CD recording, Floating Glass Balls.

We promise to be good - we'll not leave peanut shells on the coffee table; no beer puddles on your fine Persian carpet.

Really. See what earnest and trustworthy faces we have? Not sold on looks alone? To help tip the scales, click on the highlighted song titles below for mp3's of our originals.

Come on, take us home with you! We'll even pay our own way to your house, in the U.S. (For shipment outside the U.S., please email Spud for a postage quote -- we'll discount the full amount by $3.)

OLD BUDDY GOODNIGHT- Our latest CD release

Things in Life
McCaddy's Waltz
Midnight on the Highway
Poison Love
Little Annie
Just Like You
Redwood Hill
That's How I Can Count On You
Old Buddy Goodnight

^$15⁰⁰ each post-paid*  

 

"Who but the Floating Glass Balls has brought such tight, friendly, fluent bluegrass to the Oregon Coast? And for so long and to so many! Their quiet affection for these tunes -- full of sweethearts and caskets, trains and Tennessee -- is contagious. They play bluegrass like you hope it might always be, And these tunes, in tribute to Dobro player Dan Conner, who sang them, remind us of their quiet affection for each other, too."
     —Jon Broderick

WINTER in PARADISE — The last recording by the original FGB

Pumpkin Puss
Red Ball Rocket Train
Highway 101
Be Here to Love Me
Stuck Up Blues
Sidewinder
Riverman Blues
Shane
Guns of Fort Stevens [YouTube Video]
Peace for All the People
Wrong Road Again
Love Comes to Call
Waiting for the Boys to Come Home
Finish Line
Somewhere on the Road Tonight
You've Just Stolen Mine
Farewell, Angelina
Wood Rat
Dank, Dark and Dismal

^$15⁰⁰ each post-paid*  

Recorded live with minimal overdubbing at Mike Lastra’s Portland studio during a week that saw record snowfall blanket western Oregon, Winter in Paradise showcases a mix of original tunes along with some of the band’s current performance favorites. The CD's name is derived not just from the conditions prevailing outside during the sessions, but also from the title track, Dank, Dark and Dismal, a self explanatory tune penned by Joel Marshall to describe the typical winter conditions in our home of Cannon Beach. Brimming with nineteen songs, there’s a little something from every facet of the band’s eclectic repertoire. Combining more original tunes than our two previous CDs with songs from household names like Chris Hillman, Townes Van Zandt and Bob Dylan, through treats from regional troubadours Steve Einhorn and Brien Hopkins, there’s a little bit plucked from nearly every musical genre that we love. Although the name and artwork would lead one towards thoughts of winter’s dark days, there is plenty of merriment and light pouring through the tracks. Bound to be our most popular CD yet, Winter in Paradise continues the Balls’ tradition of serving up top notch beachgrass music played with skill, passion, and most importantly, a sense of fun.     

[Winter in Paradise review]         [Guns of Fort Stevens YouTube Video]

When listing the writing credits for this CD we inadvertently left our dear friend Steve Einhorn's name off the songwriting credit for Highway 101. We regret this omission. Please visit Steve and Kate's website to hear his originalversion of this song and many more wonderful tunes.

ASHORE - The Floating Glass Balls' 2005 CD release

C.B. Junction
Atlantic City
Pretty Daughter
Evening Prayer Blues
Candlemaker
Just Let Me Fall
Marie
Old Boat
I Paid Her Alimony
Home From the Forest
Up the Street
Respiration
I Feel the Blues Movin' In
Foro Santa Luzia
Where the Soul of Man Never Dies

^$15⁰⁰ each post-paid*  

hipfish, January 2006 — "Pick up FBG's latest release ASHORE. The 15 tracks include vintage string classics like Bill Monroe's flowing but intricate Evening Prayer Blues, demonstrating FBG's adeptness of mando, dobro, fiddle and guitar picking. Just Let Me Fall, originally recorded by Happy Smith in 1952, features Dan Conner's vocals, lending authenticity to this Appalachian-rooted tune, and righteous old-timey harmonies contributed by Siegel and Marshall -- a constant you can count on from the band. ASHORE is a great mix of tunes passed between fellow musicians (the aural tradition continues) as well as stringband versions of tunes done by, for example, Springsteen, Gordon Lighfoot, and Townes Van Zandt, and treated to diverse and appealing arrangements. In addition, Seigel, Conner and Keiski originals (including Keiski's reggae paeon to clean air, Respiration), enliven this recording and add to the spirit of North Coast musical ensembles."                                 — Jenny Gamroth     [full Ashore review]

FLOATING GLASS BALLS - The band's first, self-titled CD

Alderbrook Navy Medley
Airmail Special
Rockaway
Master's Bouquet
Roving Gambler
Bramble and the Rose
Big Sciota
Billy the Kid
South in New Orleans
Ballad of Spider John
Long May You Run
Red River
Gold Rush

^$15⁰⁰ each post-paid*  

Until now, this musical experience was available only to those in attendance at our weekly gatherings -- the locals, of course, but also family and friends who came as often as their lives allowed, from all over the upper left edge, with and without an instrument in hand. As well, there were those who, as vacationing visitors, happily stumbled upon a magical moment. But now, with the release of this, the first recording from what has become known as "The Floating Glass Balls," even folks who've never been to the Oregon coast can share the urge to let down their hair and dance... barefoot. To feel the sand between your toes...

More Music...

You may also purchase other CD recordings by members of Floating Glass Balls. Such as...

Twenty Years —      Peter Siegel with Floating Glass Balls, Los      Comotosos, & new music with Mary Flower Spud's latest compilation Released 2020 $1500 each post-paid*

The Great American Music Hall —      Jug Band Extravaganza Jim Kweskin, Geoff Muldaur, John Sebastian, David Grisman, Maria Muldaur, The Barbecue Orchestra $1500 each post-paid*

When Dolphins Play—      Peter Siegel & Roland White Mandolin Music featuring Melodious Melodies $1500 each post-paid*

Friends and Legends —      Peter "Spud" Siegel & the Lower Columbia Trio      with Jim Wilkins & Jim Ydstie Also featuring: Turtle VanDamarr, Roland H. White, Teresa Baker, Ron Nagy-Andrico, Lauren Sheehan, & Michael Rush $1500 each post-paid*

Internet CD purchases...  are made through PayPal. All major credit/debit cards are accepted, so you don't need a PayPal account. If you have any questions or need to contact us regarding an order, please email Spud.

Ordered by mail, CD's are $15 each, the same price you'd pay at a performance.

*We pick up the shipping within the United States. For shipment outside the U.S., please email for a quote on postage -- we'll discount the full amount by $3.

 

The fine print:

• For orders from outside the US, please email for shipping costs prior to placing your order.
  
  
• Residents of some countries will be required to pay that country's customs fees upon receipt.
  
  
• Audio/visual materials are not returnable for refund once the outer packaging has been removed.
  
  
  

— schedule | press | contact —

 

Floating Glass Balls is a band distilled from years of weekly musical gatherings at Bill's Tavern in Cannon Beach. The constantly changing faces around the table, patrons at the bar and the wishful tavern waifs peering in through the windows became a family of sorts... Through life, death, love, marriage, divorce -- and even the destruction and rebirth of the very building itself -- the music has continued.