See Trouble in the Kitchen in:
Trouble in the Kitchen is a Melbourne-based folk outfit. They play traditional Irish music regularly at folk festivals like Woodford and Chewton.
Adrian Barker, known as Ado, plays fiddle and does vocals. Despite having no immediate Irish heritage he has a passion for Irish music and has spent extended periods in Ennis, County Clare. He teaches in Australia and New Zealand.
Ben Stephenson plays flute and bodhrán. He also spent time living in Ireland and started playing the bodhrán after finding an old one in his mum’s garage. In 2000 he won the Declan Affley Memorial Award at the National Folk Festival in Canberra, which paid for his much-cherished hand-made Michael Grinter flute.
Together, Ado and Ben won the 2006 National Folk Fellowship, and spent four weeks doing research and working on a project at the National Library of Australia Oral History and Folklore Collection:
‘An important element of our project was to attempt to link today’s music with that of the older Australian players, and in doing so to distill some of the Irish ingredients in what is often referred to as Australian “bush” music. One thing that is immediately clear when listening to the range of recorded material in the collection is the intermingling of tunes and styles of playing from a range of distinctive traditions, transplanted into Australia in the years since European arrival’ (interview from folktrax, March 2006).
Joe Ferguson plays Irish bouzouki and banjo. Joe has been accompanying Irish music since 1991 and has played in various other traditional bands including The Tinkers and Reels on Wheels. An audio engineer, he has produced and/or engineered CDs for Mozaik, Kate & Ruth, The Tinkers, The Fagans, The Beenies as well as Trouble in the Kitchen.
Kate Burke plays guitar and does vocals. She also perfoms traditional songs in a duo with Canberra singer Ruth Hazleton. In 1998 they won the Liz Johnston Award for vocal excellence at the National Folk Festival, and have since recorded three successful albums. In 2004 they toured Ireland with Irish singer Andy Irvine and UK / Australian performers James Fagan and Nancy Kerr.
Line-up:
- Adrian ‘Ado’ Barker (fiddle)
- Kate Burke (guitar, vocals)
- Joe Ferguson (Irish bouzouki, banjo)
- Ben Stephenson (flute, bodhrán)
Visit the Trouble in the Kitchen website
