Folk your way through the day with the latest release from the instrumental wizards The Trouble Notes. Duke of the Bello is juxtaposition of dreamy melodies and powerful rhythms that build toward a climactic folk-blues finish.

The Trouble Notes - Duke Of The Bello

Sitting between traditional folk, modern classical, and tribal dance music, Never Dream Alone is a fantasy-tinged folk-pop anthem. Written for and filmed at the 2022 Summer edition of Elfia, Europe's largest outdoor Cosplay festival, the video showcases the energy of the song with vibrant visuals and eclectic costumes - inspiring listeners to embrace their dreams and imagination.

The Trouble Notes -  Never Dream Alone feat Carola Zerega

The Banjolorian was written during our extensive travels in the Louisiana Bayou, and fuses popular Hip-Hop beats with Americana Folk instrumentation.

The Trouble Notes - The Banjolorian

Tihany Tanc pays homage to the great Hungarian czardas composers who inspired Bennet’s love for folk music.

The Trouble Notes - Tihany Tanc

Forbidden Love tells the dramatic story of two characters from different cultures who fall in love, ending in a blissful climactic resolution.

The Trouble Notes - Forbidden Love

Chips y Salsa is a mixture of Latin salsa and European folk music that keeps the listener’s hands clapping and feet moving throughout the entire song.

The Trouble Notes - Chips Y Salsa

Turkish Delight is inspired by the popular Turkish psychedelic rock and Latin Cumbia of the 1970’s with a modern indie-rock twist. A small departure from their normally violin or vocal dominated tracks, Turkish Delight features the electric guitar as the lead voice accompanied by groovy bass and cumbia inspired rhythms topped off with some Turkish funk inspired violin. The instrumental track is a playful reminder of the group’s worldly musical influences and bridges between traditions of 5 continents.

“We spend a lot of time in the van while on tour, and that means we are frequently listening to music. The last years there were many great Cumbias and Asian psychedelic groups that became the soundtrack to our voyages and the idea for the song came out of the desire to pay homage to them. Plus, it was a fun excuse for me to play some bass!” Says Bennet Cerven from The Trouble Notes.

The Trouble Notes - Turkish Delight

Sands of Time details a trans-cultural travel from the Middle East to an Amazonian oasis.

The Trouble Notes - Sands Of Time

Mayahuel is an instrumental composition that romanticizes and tells the story of our friend Martha Xucunostli. A powerful female character, she traveled across an ocean from her native Mexico to Belgium for love and had to navigate the balance between her native traditions and those of her new European home. Drawing strength from Mayahuel, the Aztecan goddess of Agave, fertility, and maternity she seeks to contribute to the local culture by fusing traditions.

The Trouble Notes - Mayahuel

"Pearl d'Alsace" is an ode to the city of Strasbourg and its importance to the group. The city sits at the intersection of many cultures and calls to many both within France, but also across Europe. It is for this reason that Strasbourg has been a center of gravity for The Trouble Notes, our music sits at the intersection of many different styles. 
The song is folky and beautiful, but holds within powerful modern builds and rocky guitar lines influenced by Rodrigo y Gabriela, for whom we opened at La Laiterie as a part of their Grammy-Award winning “Mettavolution” tour. 
Within the song we combine the 3 different styles for which our group has become known: Folk Fusion, Instrumental Rock and Acoustic Dance Music. There is no better way for us to pay homage to our adopted city.

The Trouble Notes - Pearl D'Alsace

Magnolias was written for a women’s art collective in Kortrijk, Belgium, with whom the band collaborated with throughout their residency there.

The Trouble Notes - Magnolias

Never Dream Alone is a fantastical folk-pop ode to dreamers inspired by the cosplay community. Sitting between traditional folk, modern classical, and tribal dance music Never Dream Alone is a fantasy-tinged folk-pop anthem written for and filmed at the 2022 Summer edition of Elfia, Europe's largest outdoor Cosplay festival, the video showcases the energy of the song with vibrant visuals and eclectic costumes - inspiring listeners to embrace their dreams and imagination.

The Trouble Notes - Never Dream Alone (Instrumental)

Liberty Awaits is an epic paying tribute to the great immigrant voyage. “The initial idea for the song came when trying to pay homage to my late grandfather, Leon English.” Says Bennet. “His ancestors fled hard times in Ireland and crossed the Atlantic in search of a better life. I wanted to highlight the importance of that journey to my very existence.”  While drawing influence from the Great Famine that led to the death and displacement of millions of Irish, the song is meant to tell a broader tale of the migration saga and transcontinental journey. Featuring on the track is Ecuadorian singer Carola Zarega, who along with the band, channeled her own experiences when contributing to the recording.

The track begins with a melancholic violin melody. Eerie string arrangements and the dreamy vocals of Carola Zarega create a contradictory soundscape that leaves the listener a feeling of hopeful despair. An upbeat folk dance coaxes the listener from the trance, representing a kind of “last hurrah” before the perilous journey across the sea. Carola’s vocals soon take on a new form, as the song breaks from the traditional dance and becomes more pensive. The band creates an emotional soundscape on top of which Carola’s vocals float above the waves, the melodies both apprehensive and courageous. The journey begins to accelerate as the ship battles the elements before excitement builds at the eventual site of land. Suddenly the listener is brought full circle, with the reemergence of the folk dance, this time with more nuance. The voyagers have arrived in a new land but have not lost their traditions.

The Trouble Notes - Liberty Awaits

With their first single, Mayahuel, The Trouble Notes romanticize the story of their friend Martha Xucunostli. A powerful female character, she traveled across an ocean from her native Mexico to Belgium for love. While searching for her place, she must navigate the balance between her native traditions and those of her new European home. Drawing strength from Mayahuel, the Aztecan goddess of fertility and maternity, she seeks to contribute to the local culture by fusing traditions.  

In finding influence for the song, The Trouble Notes sought to pay homage to one of their largest musical influences, Grammy winning Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. After watching videos of Rodrigo y Gabriela busking on Dublin’s famous Grafton Street, Bennet first gained the courage to try playing in the streets of New York City. Fast forward 6 years and the band was touring France/Switzerland in support of their musical heroes. The melodic lines and guitar rhythms extol the repertoire of the duo, while maintaining a unique voice and texture that has defined the sound of The Trouble Notes for the past decade.

The Trouble Notes - Mayahuel (Radio Edit)

The Trouble Notes - Never Dream Alone (Feat. Carola Zerega)

The Ballad of Trouble is the first of a series of singles that will release in the second half of 2020, self-produced and recorded in their lockdown yoga studio. This song tells the story of the past months, and reaffirms the band’s commitment to its mission: to tirelessly connect cultures and share their energetic music with their audience. They bring the feeling of travel from Folk and Americana influences together with dance styles from their home city of Berlin. The recording has a minimalist, organic feel, representative of the band’s origins as street performers, but yet also a dynamic maturity that highlights their evolution as a group. The track is a throwback to a vintage Trouble Notes’ style that was commonplace during their time as traveling troubadours. It is a musical daydream; a vision of a future where the band will take to the road and live their destiny of connecting with people and exploring the unknown. The Ballad of Trouble is the soundtrack for their journey, announcing to the world that they are a team on a mission.

Ballad of Trouble

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The Ballad of Trouble

Surfing with the Sphinx

Close your eyes and walk the neon light soaked Lockhard Road on a sticky night in Wan Chai. The violin carries the aroma of ginger and exotic spices, stinging your nostrils, while cocktails of rhythm and bass  coarse through your veins.  As you walk past countless noodle stops and raunchy bars the hustle of the city consumes you. What happens next cannot be explained, only felt as you are swept away by the vibrancy of the City of Life.  A Night in Hong Kong awaits you

A Night In Hong Kong

Rivers have shaped the world around us. Prior to the industrial revolution, it was not easy for humans and cultures to move. Large scale transport and the movement of goods were only possible by one means of transportation, water. The first thing that comes to mind for most is the sea, open water where endless possibilities await on the horizon, but the most consequential bodies of water for human civilization were our rivers. Rivers are like natural (or in some cases unnatural) roads carved into the earth. They connect large bodies of water and allow for the rapid transportation of goods and people. They provided food, culture, and the very source of life that was needed to sustain population growth. The rivers of our world allowed for human expansion. When we look at continental Europe, the historical cities that move inland from the coast are built on rivers, and our capitals are connected to them. 
Music and traditions are connected to our rivers. Societies that were connected by the same river shared culture with one another. They shared stories and ultimately a common history. Water is malleable, it holds energy and shapes to its environment. The energy, the history, and the movement of rivers as a source of connection here is not lost. 
With their new song Sound River, The Trouble Notes try to capture the connection between an urban metropolis and its rivers. A violin melody that originated on the banks of Manhattan’s East River (also once called the “sound river”) has since traveled across the Atlantic and moved along the rivers of Europe. The song fuses instrumental hip-hop and ambient styles, with the dramatic prose of classical music and a pinch of folk. It tells a tale of our rivers and their importance to the growth and development of our cultural cities. Sound River oozes with emotion, at times dark and melancholic, and at others uplifting and mirthful. 
Bennet Craven, the group's violinist, said: “Much of our music has been written on the banks of a river. Some of the most powerful emotions and cultural connections we feel have happened while absorbing their energy. We have written music on the Seine in Paris, the Spree in Berlin, the Danube, the Rein, the Po in Italy, the Thames in London, the Mississippi, the East River in Manhattan, and drawn inspiration from countless others. There is a powerful cultural connection that we and many like us feel when standing on the banks of a river.

Sound River

A New Hope is the first episode from The Trouble Notes’ exciting new animation story project entitled Sands of Time: A Cosmic Journey. The story begins with a dark and pensive soundscape, with humanity seemingly marching toward their perilous fate on a climate ravaged planet. As faith dwindles, there is a miraculous discovery made, buried deep beneath our feet lays an ancient relic said to hold the key to our future. In a drastic change of style, a proud violin melody and energetic western rhythms has given mankind a renewed sense of purpose. A team of cosmic voyagers, assembled at the behest of the richest man on the planet, become a heroic symbol of faith. While the success of their voyage is far from certain, their mere existence is A New Hope around which humanity can rally and dream of a better future.

A New Hope - Sands of Time : A Cosmic Journey

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To understand the story of The Trouble Notes, one must understand the story of our world. In an effort to reduce cultural barriers, The Trouble Notes have made it their mission to create their own cultural universe, mixing influences from all over the world into their songs.
The emotional, pan-cultural music of the group, forms personal memories into a colorful melting pot of different traditions, touching on deep and complex stories of the human condition and social experiences. Having grown up in different countries with different traditions, they each bring a unique perspective to life and music that helps self-serve as a reminder that their brand of fusion can show a unity in diversity.
The Berlin based quartet is composed of violinist Bennet Cerven, guitarist Florian Eisenschmidt, percussionist Oliver Maguire and bassist Stefan Bielik. Hailing from different countries, each member of the group brings a different musical training and perspective to the band.

The Trouble Notes

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