Friday will be the fourth year in a row for Kennedy’s Kitchen from South Bend, Ind., to appear at Beckwith Theatre as part of its “St. Patrick’s Day fortnight.”
Doors open at 7 for the 7:30 show. Tickets cost $20, which include beverages and hors d’oeuvres, and can be purchased at the door.
Reservations can be made by calling the theater at (269) 782-7653 or emailing info@beckwiththeatre.com.
Known as one of the top Irish bands in the Midwest, Kennedy’s Kitchen has been playing together since 1998, averaging 80 shows per year, from backyard parties and weddings to pubs, concert halls and festivals.
They have recorded five CDs, venturing as far as New York City and Naples, Fla.
JoHn Kennedy leads the band, which includes nephews, Liam and Nolan Ladewski, who competed in the all-Ireland Fleadh, Chris O’Brien, Rob Weber and Jacob Turner.
They play fiddle, flutes, tin whistles, mandolin, bouzouki, guitar, tenor banjo, harmonica, bohdran (drum), bass and sing.
JoHn was 2004 All-Ireland Fleadh Silver Medalist for guitar accompaniment. He has won numerous gold and silver medals in traditional singing and accompaniment in Midwest Fleadhs. His solo CD, “I’ll Learn to Fly,” was chosen by WVPE FM 88.1’s Back Porch program as one of the top 10 folk releases for 1998.
Kennedy is a founding member of the traditional Irish band Seamaisin, which can be heard in a scene from the movie “Rudy.” Seamaisin also produced music for the soundtrack of the short film Araby, an adaption of James Joyce’s short story nominated for an Academy Award.
JoHn volunteered with the Peace Corps in Chile from 1979 to 1981 and has a doctorate from the University of Notre Dame in development economics. He is an economist at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Ind.
Liam is a multiple medalist at Midwest Fleadhs on whistle and flute (first on whistle and second in flute in August 2011). Playing whistle since 6, he joined the band fulltime in the fall of 2008 at 12 while his brother Nolan left for college.
O’Brien, who began classical violin at age 9, contributes fiddle, tenor banjo and mandolin. She studied fiddle at the Willie Clancy School in County Clare, Ireland. She is employed in art and frame restoration.
Weber, a musician since age 12, lived in Texas, where he performed with many blues, jazz and R&B artists.
Upon returning to his hometown, South Bend, the bassist fell in with session players Monday nights at Lula’s. A writer with a novel and hundreds of short stories and novellas to his credit, Weber, ordained as a rabbi in 2012, was taken with the storytelling qualities of Irish music.
Their storytelling won them comparisons to the late Harry Chapin.
Turner, the band’s newest member, joined in the summer of 2011 after Bob Harke retired. He studied bohdran with joHn for three years. In 2011, he placed second at the Midwest Fleadh in his age group, 14. That following summer, he traveled to Ireland to compete at the all-Ireland Fleadh in Cavan.
Nolan attended the Comhaltas music school in Ireland three times and studied with a number of Ireland’s master tin whistle players. He composed many tunes Kennedy’s Kitchen recorded. Together with Sean Hoffman of the Goldmine Pickers, he released a CD of original compositions, “The Steps to Home.”