by Cali Bagby

Journal/Weekly reporter

Two days after the tsunami struck Japan, one man was found floating nearly 10 miles out at sea on the roof of his house.

When Susan Osborn saw the image of this tiny, bedraggled figure in an online story, it struck a chord with her, not just because it was a story of survival amidst death and destruction, but because she had come to call Japan her second home – a home now in peril.

“I knew many dear people there [in the epicenter of the tsunami] and it’s stunning how sturdy their spirits are – how strong they are to ride this through, to continue to ride this through,” said Osborn, who has worked as a professional singer throughout Japan.

Inspired by those people and the man out at sea she wrote a song called “Little Boat.”

That original composition, along with traditional Christmas songs and other holiday tunes, will be performed at her annual Christmas concert at Victorian Valley Chapel, Dec. 21 – 24.

Osborn will sing and play the keyboard, guitar and violin, joined by Ritambhara Tyson on vocals and the cello and Carolyn Cruso voice, hammer dulcimer and flute.

Osborn has been performing on Orcas for 22 years and expanded her concerts to Lopez and San Juan in the last five years, joining forces with Tyson and Cruso to create an intimate acoustic celebration of the season.

During the last 21 years she frequently made the nine-hour flight from Orcas to Japan in what she calls an insane commute, but performing music in a land now dear to her heart has been worth it.

She gained celebrity during her time there and was even mobbed by a class of school children after she performed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan.

“I often felt like Forest Gump – wondering what I was doing there,” she said about her fame. “But I got to do what I love, which is singing.”

But every return trip’s jet lag cost her 10 days of recovery, so she retired from performing in Japan in November 2010. Four months later the tsunami following the 8.9-magnitude earthquake wreaked havoc on the country.

In some ways she feels like an honorary citizen of Japan, who must help to build a bridge from between two countries she has lived in.

And the best way she knows how to do that is through music.

“It’s a great gift that artists can give to translate whats going on in the world into a creative experience,” she said.

For more info, visit www.susanosborn.com. The concerts are Wednesday, Dec. 21-23 at 7 p.m. and 24 at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Victorian Valley Chapel. Tickets: $20; Children 12 and under $10 available at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/211082.

Tragedy, preservation and song-writing

When Dave Fisher died in a skiing accident on Mt. Baker, and Leta Currie Marshall died suddenly just two days later, Stanley Greenthal sat down with a pen and paper.

Shocked by the sudden passing of two members of his small island community on Lopez, he started writing down wishes he imagined one might experience before dying – and words just started to tumble from his pen. It was like trying to catch someone else’s words running around in his head.

The words were transformed into lyrics, then came the melody and the song “One More Time” was created.

“For me, the impulse to write a song most often begins with a feeling – sometimes vague or mysterious,” Greenthal said. “Or sometimes a clear emotional response to something happening in the moment, or remembered.”

Greenthal’s original works and tunes from Scotland, Brittany, Greece and Turkey appear in his recently released album “First Song,” featuring seven musicians and 22 instruments including harmonica, the low whistle and the Greek bouzouki, from the lute family.

It took Greenthal years to form such a group of musicians. He first enticed his wife, Kip Greenthal, to play percussion and harmonize with her voice.

Then he befriended Christos Govetas, of Seattle, who plays the Greek clarinet, and Eliot Grasso, of Eugene, Ore., a uilleann piper, flute and whistle player. Those three plus Greenthal will perform on Orcas, Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m. at The Odd Fellows Hall, playing songs from the CD and other works with a winter celebration quality.

Listening to the album is like being transported to the Middle Ages, but with lyrics that pull the listener back into modern day, and are reminiscent of Donovan the Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist, who blends folk, pop, and world music.

Stanley originally started to write music for himself, and over the years he traveled to other places like Greece and Brittany.

In 1974, he visited Ireland and experienced ceilidhs – traditional Gaelic social gatherings reflecting ancient ways – still practiced by some of the local people.

“They were trying to preserve the culture,” Stanley said. “And make it relevant to the times we live in – not museum qualities.”

He was inspired by the preservation of cultural music and close-knit communities similar to Lopez, where he and Kip moved to in 1971.

But Stanley doesn’t see himself as preserving traditions when playing their music, but rather hopes that he is “passing on or introducing music to people in a way that increases their awareness of cultures still existing in the world today.”

“It’s a challenge to learn another instrument from another culture and interpret it in your own voice, being faithful to the original work, but also making it unique,” he said. “Subjects vary for and about people and events that have happened and reflect on the human condition.”

Other songs inspired by tragic events are contemporary, but have the same goal as the traditional Gaelic tunes performed in Ireland because both seek to preserve a moment, a feeling, or a gathering that has passed.

“‘Song for David’ is an attempt to preserve the memory of my friend,” said Greenthal. “And the feeling of that moment, saying goodbye, and also paying tribute to him.”

For more info, call 376-4320, or email eric@earthball.com.

Tickets are $10 adults, $6 youths 6 to 17, kids 5 and under free, available at Darvill’s Bookstore store or at the door.