For King & Country’s Luke Smallbone – stoked to bring his kids home for the first time.

You could say the spotlight was no stranger to Joel and Luke Smallbone of the band For King and Country.

Their father David was a concert promoter, and the family moved from their native Australia to the US in the early 90’s. Their older sister Rebecca (St James), found success in the Christian music industry, with gold selling albums throughout the late 90’s and a Grammy award in 2000.

The boys cut their teeth singing backup for Rebecca as she toured across the US, and after Luke graduated high school, the brothers formed a band, and performed under the monikers Austoville, and Joel & Luke, before settling on For King and Country.

‘Eventually someone at a label heard some music and gave us a chance at having the career we have today, and for that we’re incredibly thankful. It’s not been easy, but we’re very grateful for what we’ve been given’.

Their debut album – 2012’s ‘Crave’ – was well received but it was their 2014 album ‘Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong’ that really propelled the group into the limelight. The album peaked at #13 on the Billboard album chart, achieved gold status, and won the boys a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian album.

Their latest record ‘Burn the Ships’ released this October and last month the band announced an Australian tour in support of the album. For King and Country will be performing in Brisbane at Riverlife on January 30 (SOLD OUT), and again on February 1^st at the Mueller Performing Arts Centre in Rothwell – tickets available here.

‘When writing Burn the Ships we looked back at previous albums, the songs that impacted people the most were songs that had a personal connection to them’.

Ahead of the tour Luke from For King and Country spent some time talking to 96five’s Justin Rouillon about his excitement in bringing his wife and 3 kids back to Australia for the first time. Listen to the podcast above.