The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - What began with instruments, plenty of talent and a dream has developed into so much more for six Waitsburg kids.

"We wanted to follow in the footsteps of the Troublemakers," said 12-year-old Emily Adams of Waitsburg.

And without hesitation, that's what they are doing.

The Blue Mountain Troublemakers started in January 2003 with a group of Waitsburg Elementary kids who wanted to play bluegrass like they'd seen in the hit movie, "O, Brother Where Art Thou?"

These young musicians worked hard, and soon they were averaging 30 performances per year in a variety of venues including educational settings, civic organizations, retirement facilities, music festivals and private events.

Hot on their heels now are 15-year-old Kavin and sister 13-year-old Kassidy Kuykendall (on the banjo/ guitar/dobro and mandolin); 14-year-old Beka and sister Emily Adams (guitar/vocals and fiddle), and 13-year-old Emma with brother 11-yearold Chris Philbrook (mandolin/ vocals and banjo/vocals). They are the Rezonators.

The Rezonators are Waits- burg's newest young bluegrass band. In the spring of 2010, nearly a dozen young musicians turned up at an informal bluegrass class. Brad Green, the Waitsburg High School band teacher, and Kate Hockersmith, a volunteer, have been meeting with the "bluegrass kids" once a week ever since. Six of those students, now ages 11 to 15, continued playing music together through the summer and by fall, they had decided to start a new bluegrass band.

They had their first gig lined up, playing at the Pioneer Fall Festival in Waitsburg. But they still needed a name.

"We narrowed it down to Brick in the Wall, Music Walkers, or the Rezonators," Emma Philbrook said. They debated the issue right up until Hockersmith asked how they wanted to be introduced to their first audience. "The festival people kept calling us 'The Bluegrass Kids,'" Philbrook said. " But we didn't want to be called that. So we finally went with the Rezonators."

A resonator is the big, circular piece attached behind the drum of a banjo that makes the instrument louder and gives it its signature buzzing sound. It seemed a fitting name.

Since their first successful gig, the Rezonators, joined occasionally by 13-year-old Prescott fiddler and mandolin player Ezra Pitcher and 11-year-old fiddler Sam McGowen, have practiced together every Thursday in the Waitsburg High School band room with Hockersmith and Green.

They played their second gig in December during the Dayton Christmas Kickoff at the Weinhard Hotel.

Now they're looking forward to their third show - the first time people will pay to see them - at next Sunday's benefit concert for the Walla Walla Aviary.

BLUEGRASS Is For The Birds! takes place March 27 in the Waitsburg High School Auditorium. The concert starts at 2 p.m. and tickets are $10 each. Tickets are available at the door and at Mandrakes Antiques, next door to Hot Poop in Walla Walla. For more information call 337-8789.

The Friends of the Pioneer Park Aviary are trying to raised $110,000 to keep the aviary running for the next two years. So far, fundraising efforts have raised $38,000. The bluegrass community hopes to add significantly to that amount with next weekend's benefit auction.

All proceeds will go toward the aviary.

Joining the Rezonators will be their mentors and friends The Blue Mountain Troublemakers and the Ryegrass String Band.

Playing bluegrass, folk, Irish, and old time fiddle tunes, the Troublemakers today are three of the original band members and a fiddler from Dayton: Mariah Barthlow on fiddle and cello, Austin Beasley on fiddle and bass, Zach Beasley on bass and guitar, and John Hockersmith on guitar, banjo, and fiddle.

The band released their second CD " Troubled Times" in 2010. In 2007 the Troublemakers recorded their first CD, "Live At The Liberty Theater," during a performance in Dayton. Proceeds from the CD, as well as money donated at their many performances, allowed them to travel to Japan in October 2007.

The Blue Mountain Troublemakers went to Sasayama, Japan, as cultural ambassadors, representing Walla Walla in their 35th Anniversary Sister City celebration. They were a big hit with Japanese audiences and had a wonderful experience bringing traditional American music to Sasayama, Hockersmith said.

The Ryegrass String Band began making music together in the mid 1970s, playing small local venues and square dances. Currently the Ryegrass String Band consists of Trudy Ostby on fiddle, Jon St. Hilaire on guitar and mandolin, Glenn Morrison on bass, Jimmye Turner on dobro and guitar, Jerry Yokel on mandolin and fiddle and Bruce DeLeonard on banjo and guitar.

All of the members of Ryegrass sing lead and harmonize, to produce a variety of musical combinations.

They had originally decided to call themselves a string band since their music included many styles of folk songs and fiddle tunes. Then, as now, their sets include material from celtic, bluegrass, cajun, swing, traditional country and modern folk genres.

By 1980 they had begun to sponsor local concerts and fesivals and were instrumental in organizing the Walla Walla Friends of Acoustic Music and the Oregon Bluegrass Association. A regular gig at Merchants Deli in Walla Walla and a monthly contra dance furnished them opportunities to expand the songs in their set lists and they now number in the hundreds.

After several years of playing in parking lots at regional bluegrass and folks festivals the band was invited to perform on stage. And they have played many shows in the three decades since then. The band members of Ryegrass have gone on to perform in a variety of bands, both acoustic and electric and can now be found in many local groups.