Kennedy's Kitchen

Traditional and original Irish music and well-embellished tall tales

Kennedy's Kitchen
Kennedy's Kitchen New CD, The Hotting Fire is full of rare gems: Bob Harke's "Vinegar Hill" and Rob Weber's "Children in the Band [are] classics. "Crickets in the Hearth" a recitation by joHn, will take you on a trip to Donegal, back in time to 1916... beautiful stuff. Kennedy's Kitchen are the real deal, and this album...captures the rich talent and versatility of these committed musicians.
Shay Clark, Irish American News
I would like to thoroughly endorse Kennedy's Kitchen..They performed as part of the Fermilab Arts Series last Summer, and in addition to technical virtuosity and musicianship, their love of the music and dedication to each other was evident throughout the program. The performance was genuine and heartfelt and provided a true evening of music and camaraderie to our audience.
Janet Mackay-Galbraith,Cultural Events Coordinator, Batavia IL
"To hear Kennedy's Kitchen is to experience the heart of music, the culture of the songs being handed from musician to musician, the beauty of melody untouched by gimmick and the magic of this group of musicians coming together with one aim - to leave you, and them, breathless. Then, on the the next song, they'll have you partying and dancing as never before. One of America's best."
Tom Schaub, Entertainment Director Michigan Irish Music Festival

Kennedy's Kitchen plays tear-up-the-floor, break-your-heart beautiful Irish music: traditional dance tunes, pub and original songs, stories, jokes, and well embellished tall tales.

In Kennedy's Kitchen hear whistles, fiddle, guitar, bodhran, mandolin, tenor banjo, bass, songs (both old and new), voices (both old and young), stories (exaggerated to the point of being true), by joHn Kennedy, his nephew Nolan Ladewski (O'Brien), Chris O'Brien, Bob Harke, and Rob Weber -- all from their home town of South Bend, IN.

Highlights of their 12 years together include the Shaheen Music Series at Saint Mary College in 2001 along with Dervish, Colcannon, and The Baltimore Consort, a concert at Notre Dame with world champion step dancer Paul Cusick and USA national champion Caitlin Allen. In 2004 they performed at the Kranert Center for the Arts at the University of Illinois. In addition, The Kitchen has played the region's premier venues for acoustic and folk music: The Front Porch in Valparaiso, LVD's in Goshen, Indiana, and Kraftbrau Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 2006 they shared equal billing with Tommy Makem at the DeBartollo Performing Arts Center at the University of Notre Dame.

The band released their first CD, self-titled, in July of 2003, which was selected by National Public Radio affiliate WVPE FM 881's The Back Porch as one of the top 25 folk releases of 2003. Music in The Glen was released 2004, A Pocketful of Lint in 2006, and the most recent release is The Hotting Fire.

About the “LINT” CD, the group says: Although we are not all of Irish descent, everyone who performs on this CD is a grandchild of someone who came over to America on a boat, pursued by poverty or the failed politics of the old world, looking for a chance. Our grandparents arrived here with the name of a town, an address, perhaps a much read letter which stated that they were welcome, that there was work to be found, and that someone would be expecting them. Other than that, they had their hopes, a small cardboard chest filled with a life’s belongings, and a pocketful of lint.