KinFolk is the Fleming family – Peggy, Ken, Kevin, and Katie – and Sam Hatch who have combined forces to become one the newest and freshest pure drop Irish music ensembles in Texas.
Peggy and Ken Fleming are 40-plus-year veterans of the Irish music scene in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, having performed formerly with Tinker’s Dam, Waifs & Strays, Jigsaw, Lone Star Ceili Band and the TIMES Session Players at events that include the North Texas Irish Festival (NTIF), the Milwaukee Irish Festival, Kerrville Folk Festival, Austin Celtic Festival, the Texas Folklife Festival, and countless pubs and private events across the country. Together they helped create the North Texas Irish Festival and the Southwest Celtic Music Association with Ken serving as their first director and president respectively. Ken is also the founder/director of the O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat and founder/executive director of the Traditional Irish Music Education Society which currently employs the volunteer skills of the whole family.
They are now joined by their children, Kevin Fleming and Katie Duncan, who grew up hearing their parents perform the music to the extent that it couldn’t help becoming ingrained. As adults, they now share their parents’ passion for Irish music, quickly honing their skills, Kevin on flute, tinwhistle, low whistle and bodhrán, and Katie on tenor banjo and mandolin. Peggy, whose mainstay remains the fiddle, has added the concertina to her wheelhouse, and Ken, having handed his banjo duties to his daughter, now holds forth on button accordion, bouzouki, and guitar.
Adding to the band’s breadth of talent is guitarist Sam Hatch who has previously performed with several bands in the Dallas area including Reel Treble and Plectra.
KinFolk’s repertoire is a lively blend of jigs, reel, hornpipes, polkas, and marches with waltzes, airs, and songs added for good measure. Their logo is a family tree, with the traditional roots going deep and the limbs branching out to reach others with their love of the music.