Sayonara Sasayama

WAITSBURG – Seven years ago Chris Philbook knocked on Kate Hockersmith's door saying he wanted to be a Troublemaker (a youth bluegrass band member) and travel to Japan like they had. On Tuesday, that dream was supposed to come true. Instead, Philbrook will be undergoing surgery with his fellow band members staying stateside to offer support.

Philbrook got Kate Hockersmith back in the bluegrass business in 2010 when he came calling, asking how he could be a Troublemaker. That parent-led bluegrass band played throughout the valley for years and traveled to Japan as part of the Walla Walla-Sasayama Sister City exchange program in 2007.

As the members graduated and went their separate ways, the band disbanded, but Philbrook was the catalyst for Hockersmith to begin working with kids again. She gathered musicians, taught lessons, and eventually formed the Touchet Valley Acoustic Music Project under the umbrella of the nonprofit Rural Youth Enrichment Services.

The project currently has several bands, playing at different musical levels. Switchgrass Delta, made of Philbrook on banjo, his sister Emma Philbrook on mandolin, Robert Walsh on standup bass and Kaleb Kuykendall on fiddle, is the most experienced group.

Every five years Walla Walla and Sasayama do a cultural exchange of some kind. Switchgrass Delta members have spent the last two years practicing and fundraising to be the performers in that exchange, which takes place this year, as part of the exchange program's 45th anniversary. The anticipated trip was just a week away, when a tough tackle put an end to the band's plans.

Philbrook, the star running back for the DW football team, received a debilitating injury during the Sept. 29 game against Lyle-Wishram.

"I was carrying the ball and one of their players grabbed onto my ankle and started to roll on it. When I was falling down, another player came in and hit my leg the wrong way. It snapped my fibula and tore the ligaments that keep my ankle in place," Philbrook said.

The injury didn't stop the band for a minute, however. Philbrook got hit on a Friday night and the band played for an event at the GESA Powerhouse Theater on Saturday morning and for a fundraising dinner in Waitsburg on Saturday night.

"We just propped Chris' leg up on a chair and carried on," Hockersmith.

Philbrook had a doctor's appointment on Oct. 4, after the swelling had gone down, and he and his band members were hopeful that he would be put in a cast and the Japan trip could continue as planned. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

The doctor said Philbrook would need surgery to keep his ankle in place while the ligaments heal. Instead of heading to the airport on Oct. 10, Philbrook headed to the operating room.

His fellow band members had the option to make the trip without him, but opted not to.

"They said they started as a band and they would either go as a band or not at all," Hockersmith said. "It wasn't a difficult decision, but it's still hard. Emma had studied Japanese for a long time and the kids were really looking forward to the trip."

On a positive note, the band members will be able to get back at least a good portion of the money they paid toward the trip. With concerns about the political unrest with North Korea, the group bought trip insurance, which they normally wouldn't have purchased.

Hockersmith isn't sure how much of their trip money will be refunded, but she and the band members are hopeful that they will be able to plan a different trip, perhaps this summer.

"I feel bad that I ruined the experience for everyone else but it's also really nice what the band is doing," Philbrook said.