Having been swept into the tunes as an unsuspecting youngster, Ado has earned a reputation as one of the finest Irish fiddle players Australia has produced. In recent years Ado has made something of a second home in Ennis, Co. Clare, and his time in Ireland has given him the opportunity to soak in the music of some sublime traditional musicians. An accomplished performer, and the winner of the inaugural Chris Wendt award at the National Folk Festival in 1998, he is never more at home than in the thick of a lively session. He is also an experienced teacher of traditional music, and has taught extended workshops at events such as Ceol Aneas in New Zealand (2005, 2006), the Easter School at the National Folk Festival (2007) and at the Turning Wave Irish festival (2006, 2007).  Along with co-conspirator Ben Stephenson, he was joint recipient of the 2006 National Library of Australia Folk Fellowship, the product of which was their award-winning album Undertones: Irish music from Australia.

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© Ben Sephenson 2007

Kate Burke – Guitar, Vocals

Kate is an exquisite singer and a powerful and imaginative guitarist, and provides much of the backbone to Trouble’s distinctive sound.   In 1998 she won, along with Ruth Hazleton, the Liz Johnston Award for Vocal Excellence at the National Folk Festival, and as a duo Kate and Ruth have since recorded three successful albums.  In 2004 they toured Ireland to great acclaim with Irish singer Andy Irvine and UK performers James Fagan and Nancy Kerr.  Kate spends a lot of time going to Irish sessions with her fiddle and concertina, and in what little spare time remains she is writing songs – her Song for Reconciliation was nominated for a MusicOz award in 2003.  She remains a strong believer in slow food, wool spinning, and hates McDonald’s

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Ben Stephenson - Flute, Bodhrán

After humble beginnings bashing away at an old bodhrán he found in his Mum’s garage, Ben has risen to become one of Australia’s most sought-after Irish musicians. He is much in demand as a recording artist and has been a featured soloist on various film & television projects. In 2000 he won the Declan Affley memorial award for excellence in a young performer at the National Folk Festival in Canberra, which paid for his much-cherished Grinter flute. Ben has also spent time living in Ireland, where he was particularly influenced by the playing of such flute legends as John Kelly & Kevin Ryan.  An extraordinarily versatile musician, Ben is apparently constrained only by the lack of extra arms and hands – in addition to the above he is also a fine guitarist and bouzouki player.  He has, to Ado’s relief, so far resisted the urge to apply himself to the fiddle.

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Joe has been playing Irish music since 1991 and played bouzouki in a number of Australian Irish trad bands (The Tinkers, Reels on Wheels) before the formation of Trouble in the Kitchen.  In recent years he has become a handy tenor banjo player as well, making him much easier to hear in noisy sessions!  When straying from his instruments, Joe works as a recording engineer, and has produced and/or engineered CD's for Mozaik, Kate & Ruth, The Tinkers, The Fagans, Zulya and The Beenies, as well as Trouble. Joe is also in demand as a live sound engineer for touring international bands, having worked with Andy Irvine's Mozaik, Brian Kennedy, Lunasa, Felpeyu, Grada and Flook.

visit Joe's 'Tradsound' website at:
www.tradsound.com

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