Susan Osborn Honored in South Dakota

Susan Osborn, right, and Marilyn Castilaw at their induction into the South Dakota Hall of Rock and Roll

“Dakota winds blow strong! Fierce beauty. So grateful!”

Last week, Susan Osborn, with others from her first band “Garden” were inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association’s Hall of Fame.

In an interview with Orcas Issues, Susan told the story of the award celebration, her South Dakota roots in the Music Business, and where it has led:

She said, “South Dakota holds an amazing and deep part of my life from the early 70’s. I owe so much to the people and land of this place!

“I was notified last August that “Garden” was to be inducted in the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association Hall of Fame. I was immediately excited and honored that our little band was to be included. We are the first females to be inducted. This was most significant to us and we felt that we represent all the women musicians, and all the women who have supported and sustained rock and roll through the years.

“Because one of our members was unable to attend, Marilyn and I carried on with the incredible musical support of Boyd Bristow, the lead guitarist and founder of my first South Dakota band, Blueberry Buckle. Nine bands were inducted and many DJs and ballrooms and clubs. The event started at 5 PM and went on til midnight! About 1500 fans were in attendance, so it was like a giant reunion of old friends. Once again, it was the music that brought us together.

“I am so fortunate to have learned the music business in South Dakota, because there the music came first and the business came second. This is something that has endured as a core value as I went on to explore with my life this thing we call the Music Business. It has always been about this mysterious universal language of the heart and body we call music.

The beginning

“In the early 70’s, I was living in Ames, Iowa at the end of what I refer to as “my practice marriage,” working as a waitress in a bar, Rippey’s Orchard, that friends had built primarily as a performance space for music.

“A band from South Dakota came through, Blueberry Buckle, and one of my friends asked if I could sit in with them. I did and sang “Summertime” [from Gershwin’s opera, Porgy and Bess. A few minutes afterwards, they huddled and then asked me to join the band and I said “Yes!”

“A few weeks later I moved to Sioux Falls and into one of the most amazing and inclusive music scenes I have ever been part of. Music was a way of life. We played every day for fun and to sustain our souls. We encouraged each other to write new music. I later went on to sing in several other South Dakota bands, Rosewater, more of a jazz band; Dry Mustard, rhythm and blues; and Red Willow, country swing and rock.

The birth of Garden

“At some point I realized that I had wearied of the bar scene and needed a break. I also wanted to work with other women, after being the only female player in all of these bands. A musician friend introduced me to Marilyn Wetzler, now Castilaw, then 17 years old, still in high school, but quite a musician –a  singer, pianist and vibraphonist. Later we added Colleen Crangle, piano, vocals and percussion,and formed Garden. I played guitar and violin and sang. We were fascinated with improvised vocal harmonies, and also wrote our own material.

“We played primarily in a small deli restaurant in Vermillion, and then toured the region some. Our biggest honor was to be asked to be on Garrison Keiler’s new radio show, “Prairie Home Companion” in Marshall, Minnesota. At that time, the show was traveling around Minnesota to various auditoriums.

“Garrison’s remark after we performed was” Well, that was interesting!” And we were…out on the edge, vocally and harmonically. Gary Burton, vibraphonist, came to town to do a concert at the University and we became friends with his 19-year-old guitarist, Pat Metheny. Pat used to come to town to visit and come listen to us at the Deli. He wrote a piece for us called “Garden” for which Marilyn and I have written lyrics.

“Also while playing with Garden, the Paul Winter Consort came to town and the seeds of my future life were planted. In 1977, I was invited to come to the East Coast and join Paul in the recording of his ground breaking “Common Ground” recording.

“I have returned to South Dakota to perform a few times in the past 40 years and it is always a “medicine” experience for me. The land is wild and harsh, and something about it speaks deeply to me in the constant wind, the endless prairies, the deep and wild Missouri River, the Lakota people, the Badlands, the Black Hills. This place is a treasure and the music that is harbored and nourished there is also a treasure. There is a living culture of music in South Dakota to this day. It is one of the first places I felt married to the land in my body, and the awareness of what sacred land means.”

Susan and David Densmore will return to Orcas Island next week, after visiting relatives in the Midwest, and playing a “little house concert” in the Black Hill on their way back. Susan then plans “to  begin work in earnest on a new solo recording.

“I will take the nourishment and affirmation and deep joy of this visit into what ever I do from here on out. Even though, I was born in Minnesota, I am proud to say that I am from South Dakota.”