About

Bio

Jim Donovan and The Sun King Warriors are best described as a blend of rhythm heavy roots rock, with a strong dose of big barreling drums. Think bluesy Zeppelin-esqe bombast, Santana style percussion with wild Avett Brothers energy.

At a Sun King show, you can expect to dance, sweat and have the time of your life.

The band's music has garnered radio airplay throughout the US and Canada, and has appeared on Billboard’s Americana chart multiple times.

The band plays regionally at festivals and clubs throughout the mid-atlantic and have opened for 10,000 Maniacs, Donovan's former band Rusted Root and many others.

Jim Donovan, the band’s founder and writer brings almost three decades of experience to the Sun King Warriors. As a member of the popular 90’s band Rusted Root, he helped shaped the group’s sound and toured with legendary including The Grateful Dead, members of Led Zeppelin, Carlos Santana and the Allman Brothers.

He also co-authored the band’s biggest hit, “Send Me on My Way,” which has been streamed over 100 million times on Spotify and used as the wakeup music for NASA’s Mars rover.

Press quotes:

“Jim Donovan and Sun King Warriors are one of the most eclectic and exciting bands to come out in some time...” -The Washington Times
“Sun King Warriors channel unabashed enthusiasm into a series of songs that are both rowdy and rejuvenating...” -Relix Magazine

We see through it

The second release by Jim Donovan & the Sun King Warriors, We See Through It, illustrates the transformational power of music. Featuring ten songs that span genres and eras¸ the sound of the new album blends the vintage rock sound of Zeppelin with the alternative folk of Mumford & Sons propelled by barreling drums.

Donovan brings almost three decades of experience to the Sun King Warriors. As a member of the popular Pittsburgh band Rusted Root, the drummer/percussionist helped shaped the group’s sound and toured with artists including Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and the Allman Brothers. He co-authored the band’s biggest hit, “Send Me on My Way,” which has been played 100 million times on Spotify and used as the wakeup music for NASA’s Mars rover.

Rusted Root was merely the first act in Donovan’s career. After leaving the band in 2004, he began to explore the therapeutic effects of drumming. Donovan found a new path placing drum circles programs nationally in organizations serving people with disabilities as well as people recovering from substance abuse. 
But Donovan missed the fellowship that is the byproduct of the group dynamic. In 2013 he started working with Sean McDonald, a Pittsburgh-based producer who has worked with artists including Wynton Marsalis and Patty Griffin. As Donovan honed the songs that would become the eponymous album Sun King Warriors, he sought musicians who fit his vison and shared his spirit. Guitarist Kevin McDonald, multi-instrumentalist Dan Murphy, and bassist Kent Tonkin were added, as were three percussionists/drummers: Bryan Fazio, Joe Marini and Harry Pepper.

These veterans of Western Pennsylvania bands helped give Sun King Warriors national traction. The critically acclaimed debut record, released in 2016, made the Billboard Americana charts and earned airplay on 93 radio stations in he US and Canada. 
We See Through It builds on the success of the first Sun King Warriors album, while also extending the band’s palette. The songs are constructed with a roots and rock base, then spun into whirligigs of sound, emotions, and colors. There are ecstatic guitar solos and buoyant choruses, with most of the compositions featuring Donovan’s favorite device: a bridge that unites the opening verse with the final coda. 

The title is a reaction to society’s increasing acceptance and use of half-truths, misinformation, and smokescreens in lieu of honesty. We See Through It is a statement of purpose, a belief that people of good will and true hearts will not accept being lied to or manipulated.