“Australia’s masters of Irish trad”
Acoustic Routes, NZ

“Setting a new standard for traditional Irish music in this country”
The Canberra Times

“A true showcase of what the new generation of folk musicians are all about”
folktrax.com

Benno gets married!

Ben married his long time partner (and highly accomplished Irish set dancer and teacher) Alarna in a beautiful ceremony in Sydney recently. It was a great day, and provided a rare opportunity to see the trouble crew in fancy suits and frocks - though this could not take away from the radiant bride, who when first spotted by a three-year-old guest was greeted with the phrase "look! - A fairy princess!".

The wedding brought together Irish musicians and dancers from all over the country, and after the formal proceedings Ado led off a mighty night of tunes that had the dancers on the floor all night! October 2007

Dancers to the fore at 'The Turning Wave'

We've just got back from playing at the inaugral 'Turning Wave' Irish festival in Gundagai NSW, and what a festival it was! There was great music from some of the best players in the Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne Trad scenes, as well as Conor Keane and Enda Ó Catháin from Ireland. We had the immense pleasure of being joined on stage by Sydney's mighty Harp Irish Set Dancers, who tore up the floor with their distinctive 'battering' style,and got the whole audience cheering. Gundagai was a great weekend and a welcome addition to the Aussie festival scene. Sept 2006

Trouble hits New Zealand!

Trouble will be starting there 3 week tour of New Zealand on the 26th of May. This will be the first time for us in NZ and we're trying to get in as much of the place as we can in the time! Check our dates page for updates on upcoming gigs, more will be announced soon.
May 2006

Strings team and Trad Disco both winners at Chewton

The Chewton Folk Festival in late January was again a great weekend. One of the highlights was the Trad Disco, Australia's answer to the event that rocks the Ennis Trad Fest in Ireland each November. Our own Ado had the crowd pumping with his carefully selected blend of all the best trad from home and overseas.

Ado continued his winning form for the weekend, also captaining the Strings team to victory in the 3rd Annual Chewton Folk Festival Strings v. Winds cricket match.The Strings comfortably dispatched a disappointing Winds team led by flute-making all-rounder Mike Grinter. This makes three wins from three for the Strings under Ado's reign, but the fired-up Grinter has sworn to seize the much-coveted trophy at next years match... Feb 2006

Woodford Fire Event

On New Years Day we had the thrill of playing in front of nearly 20,000 people as part of the Fire Event at this years Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland. The annual Fire Event is a spectacular mix of large sculptural images, giant puppets, numerous fire effects, fireworks, dance and music. Part of the event saw us collaborating with the legendary Sydney-based folksinger Kate Delaney, and we were also given the job of finishing the event off with a blast of jigs that had the massive crowd up on their feet! Bill Hauritz, the director of the festival, described this years event as "one of the best we've done". Jan 2006

Trouble at the NGV

The National Gallery of Victoria has recently opened "Exiles and Emigrants", a powerful exhibition that explores the various reasons that drove people to Australia in the Victorian Era. Our CD "When the World was Wide" has been used as the soundtrack to various sections of the exhibition, and is also used in an ad for "Exiles" that is being regularly shown on the big screen in Federation Square. The exhibition runs from 9 December 2005 to 26 March 2006 at the NGV Ian Potter Gallery, Federation Square, Melbourne. Dec 2005

New addition to our line-up

We're very excited to welcome our good mate Caroline Frawley to the Trouble line-up.  Caroline is a fantastic button accordion player who has settled in Melbourne from Kilkee in Co Clare, and has been a regular partner in crime on the Melbourne session scene for the past two years.  She made her first appearance with Trouble at 'Don't Tell Tom' (formerly The Big House) in Brunswick in November 2005. Nov 2005

Fellowship award for Ben and Ado

The Trouble tunesters have been selected from a wide field of applicants as winners of the 2006 National Folk Fellowship, jointly sponsored by the National Library of Australia and the National Folk Festival.  They will use the Fellowship, which provides a four week residency in the Oral History and Folklore collection of the NLA, to research the collected history of Irish music in Australia and record an album of the material that they discover.  In addition to providing research and recording facilities at the library, the Fellowship also includes a showcase performance at the National Folk Festival in April 2006 were the album will be launched.
Oct 2005

Speaking of recordings...

We're currently in preparation to record a new (and well overdue!) Trouble album.  Gigs throughout the new year will bed down our new material, and the CD will be released in Winter '06.  Add your name to our mailing list to get details of the release as it happens. Oct 2005

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