When The High Kings burst into the limelight the year they formed, the band was clearly destined for greatness. The Celtic supergroup assembled in 2008 and immediately recorded its self-titled debut album, which hit No. 2 on Billboard’s World Music chart and earned them an opening slot on Celtic Woman’s American tour. Three years later, the quartet released its sophomore album, Memory Lane, to similar success and acclaim; both albums notched platinum sales figures in Ireland and made significant in-roads on American and European charts.
Given the individual résumés of the members, who play upwards of 13 instruments between them in performance, The High Kings’ success was nearly a foregone conclusion. Finbarr Clancy’s father Bobby was one of The Clancy Brothers, Ireland’s biggest and most influential Folk group, and Finbarr himself played bass and flute with the Clancys on their final tours in the ’90s. Martin Furey comes from similar family circumstances; his father Finbar Furey and uncle Eddie backed the Clancys on tour in the ’60s, then formed The Fureys with brothers Paul and George in 1976. Martin formed Bohinta in 1992 and recorded a handful of albums before concentrating on production and writing. Brian Dunphy did a two-year stint in Riverdance, joined the Three Irish Tenors and the band Druid and also released his own solo album. DNA also runs deep for Dunphy; his father was Ireland’s representative in 1967’s Eurovision Song Contest. And Darren Holden also had a lead role in the Broadway production of Riverdance, which led to his three-year run starring in the Broadway/touring musical Movin’ Out. Before and among all of that, Holden released three solo albums, the first of which, 1998’s Suddenly, spawned three Top 20 singles in Ireland.
To date, The High Kings have released four studio albums and two live sets, as well as a live DVD, which came out in the band’s inaugural year. The band performed on Live with Regis and Kelly for St. Patrick’s Day in 2011, and the following year played for Irish president Michael Higgins at his home and U.S. president Barack Obama at The White House. The High Kings’ latest album, Grace & Glory, will likely match the success of its predecessors but more importantly, the band has the skills to become as influential and iconic as the members’ impossibly talented family trees.
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This article appears in Aug 17-24, 2016.