For more than a decade, the Irish folk group The High Kings has followed in the footsteps of legendary Celtic balladeers such as The Clancy Brothers during the golden age of Irish folk bands in the 1960s, while also forging a path for the continuing growth of Celtic music.

The High Kings were formed by four Irish singers, performers and songwriters — Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy, Darren Holden, and past member Martin Furey, who left the group in 2017. That same year, Irish singer George Murphy joined the group. 

Today, the band is considered one of Ireland’s most prominent Celtic groups, playing a mixture of uptempo songs and contemplative ballads that include original songs and fresh interpretations of standards. The Kings’ performances combine lush vocal harmonies with guitars, banjo, accordion and traditional Irish folk instruments such as the bodhran drum.

In their video for the traditional ballad “Red is the Rose,” the four singers stand in a half-circle before a microphone, in a darkened concert hall in which small spotlights illuminate only the group. A solitary voice begins the a cappella song, which evokes a sense of yearning and wanderlust; then the singers merge their voices in a rich harmony that fills the hall with an almost hymn-like wall of sound. But on the classic upbeat Irish tune “The Wild Rover,” The Kings create the spirit of a cheerful pub song, with audience members clapping and singing along.

Ahead of the band’s Saturday show at Northampton’s Calvin Theatre — part of the Kings’ 10th anniversary tour — singer, guitarist, and bodhran drummer Brian Dunphy spoke with the Gazette by phone about the group’s decade of performing, their noted harmonies, and the evolution of Celtic music over the past 10 years.

Daily Hampshire Gazette: How has being part of The High Kings impacted your life?

Brian Dunphy: The last 10 years have been just a complete rollercoaster. We’ve had five albums now at this stage and a couple of DVDs and it’s just been going from strength to strength every year. Once you’re in a group like this, [playing music] a lot of people aren’t doing — these Irish folk songs and traditional songs the way we’re doing them — you really got to do it and keep it going the best you can.

At the end of the day when we’re touring around the world, we’re telling the old songs and the old stories from yesteryear and that’s why I think we keep coming back every single year. We spend three or four months of the year in America and it’s just incredible. There’s more fans coming out and younger fans coming out and hearing these songs for the very first time. It gives you incentive to keep going.

DHG: One thing that really struck me about your music is how intricately the vocal harmonies are arranged. How do you develop those?

BD: It’s very simple. We literally pick songs that we know are going to work for the band and that probably haven’t been heard before in relation to the way we put them together, and we arrange them, so the vocal harmonies are very important to us. As four solo artists before we put the band together, we all had different musical backgrounds and different influences along the way. Myself, I was in Riverdance and we had a 10-piece choir and we did six- and seven-piece harmonies. So, I was able to bring that to the fore and to the band.

DHG: What goes into interpreting traditional Irish folk songs? How do you make the songs your own in a way?

BD: It’s kind of hard to explain because it’s a musician thing. You get into a room and you rehearse and rehearse until you find that part that hasn’t been heard before. So, then you know you’re onto something new.

DHG: Have you seen Celtic music change at all during the past decade?

BD: Oh, absolutely. It’s certainly modernized. You can see it in all the Irish festivals that are happening around America. I started off using a stomp box, which is kind of like a bass drum, and [now] every group out there has the stomp box or the bass drum. So, they’ve added that element into any core or traditional type of folk band. That kind of modernizes it and gives it a beat behind it where it hadn’t before.

In relation to our own group, we don’t have fiddles and whistles. We have nothing like that. We do call ourselves a pure folk ballad group, more so than a [traditional] band. It has changed, and what’s great is a lot of young players have taken the mantle of all the older players. Even though they’re playing all the older music, they’ve kind of given it a new kick for a new generation.

DHG: You released an album, “Decade,” last year that compiled songs featured on your records over the past 10 years. What are some of your favorite songs that you enjoy performing live?

BD: There’s a song that’s called “The Rare Old Times.” It’s all about my hometown of Dublin. It was written back in the 1970s and was one of my dad’s [Irish singer Sean Dunphy] favorite songs as well. We never got a chance to record it. Basically, that one for me is like a tribute to my dad as well when we do it onstage. That means a lot to me.

The other songs were picked by the fans. We kind of gave them a choice: ‘If we did a decades album, what are the ones you’d like to hear?’ And we went in and recorded six brand new songs for that album as well. It was kind of a milestone for us. We had reached 10 years and wanted to give the fans back something that they wanted.

DHG: Have you ever performed in Northampton in the past?

BD: We love it every time we come up. We’re always welcomed with open arms and I particularly love the town. It’s very retro and very cool. There’s some great record stores there and I’ve met some wonderful people.

DHG: Do you have any plans for a new record in the future?

BD: We’re going to start our new album at the end of the year. The release date is probably the springtime of next year. So, we’re in the process of just trying to pick some songs for that and we’ll be in the studio very soon just working on new arrangements again.

Chris Goudreau can be reached at cgoudreau@gazettenet.com.

The High Kings will perform on Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Calvin Theatre, 19 King St., Northampton. For more information about The High Kings and for tickets, visit iheg.com.

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