KIM VOLKMAN & THE WHISKEY PRIESTS + MATT MALONE & THE HOLY SPIRITS + LES THOMAS @ NIGHTHAWKS

Nighthawks will be showcasing a special one-off Blues, Outlaw Country + Rock N' Roll event featuring KIM VOLKMAN & THE WHISKEY PRIESTS, MATT MALONE & THE HOLY SPIRITS + LES THOMAS). Don't miss this show!

KIM VOLKMAN & THE WHISKEY PRIESTS

Kim Volkman is Australian rock n roll with musical roots that tap the dirty, swaggering, tattoo'd rock of Melbourne's St Kilda & Sydney's Kings Cross. He’s been the lead guitar slinger w/ the legendary Ian Rilen (writer of Rose Tattoo’s Bad Boy For Love), bassist for the seminal underground band - X + guest musician w/ Spencer P. Jones, James McCann, Izzy Cox, Harem Scarem. He’ll be joined by The Whiskey Priests featuring Helen Cattanach (Moler) + Carl Manuell (Beargarden + John Justin & The Thunderwings).

Kim Volkman & The Whiskey Priests - Blue (2023):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di3cNsUO71I

Kim Volkman & The Whiskey Priests - Alive And Well (2020):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiMbQUjUg14

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MATT MALONE & THE HOLY SPIRITS

Matt Malone is an iconoclastic singer-songwriter hailing from the goldfields region of Victoria, Australia. Matt’s bold baritone / tenebrous imagery have often been compared to Michael Gira, Nick Cave, David Eugene Edwards, Mark Lanegan, Johnny Cash + he has cultivated a cult audience with his intense live performances having shared the stage with the likes of  Kim Salmon (Beasts Of Bourbon) + Hugo Race (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds). 2023 saw Malone release his critically acclaimed - For The Term Of My Natural Life (VRS Records, CD / Vinyl), solidifying his status as one of the consummate singer-songwriters of the Australian underground. He'll be joined The Holy Spirits featuring James W. du Plessis (Volcanic Honeymoon, The Seabirds).

'★★★★’
- Sydney Morning Herald

"Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits channel the darkness, the shadows... you'll recognize some Bad Seeds vibes in here and I'm all for it."
- Henry Wagons, Double J

"Whatever juju, alchemy or disturbed darkness that made Jim Morrison put on a pair of leather trousers & shock the world out of its apathy… Matt has got it!"
- Kim Salmon, Scientists, Beasts Of Bourbon, The Surrealists

Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits - For The Term Of My Natural Life (2023):

https://youtu.be/JXOAjqxr1oY?si=9Mr2dhVGerGS88u1

Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits - I'm Bad Like Jesse James (2024):
https://youtu.be/HNln4qHE4lg?si=ewvO8qp4s3_2Iffw

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LES THOMAS

Les Thomas is a Melbourne-based singer-songwriter whose music walks the line between the poetic and the political, the personal and the collective. Drawing from folk and country traditions with a distinctly Australian voice, his songs reach into the heart of real life — lived experience, hard-won truths, and the stories that don’t often get told.

A recipient of the Troubadour Foundation’s Keeping the Flame Alive Award, Les is part of a lineage of artists who see songwriting as both art and act of witness. His work gives voice to First Nations heroes, working-class families, survivors and truth-tellers — people too often left out of the mainstream narrative. Whether historical, reflective or rawly current, these songs do more than tell stories. They resonate.

His forthcoming single, Never Be Silenced, was written in the wake of the failed 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum. Featuring First Nations artist Trudy Fatnowna Edgeley, the song is a deeply felt act of solidarity — a call to truth, listening and repair. It’s also one of his most urgent and affecting tracks to date.

Coming soon is his third album, I’ve Got a Thing for Humans, Ya Know? — a warm, humane collection that embraces contradiction, care and the fragile magic of being alive. The title says it all: Les is a songwriter who finds dignity and grace in everyday people, even in our messiest moments.

His writing often lingers in the emotional aftermath — the quiet spaces where grief, humour and hope rub up against one another. In The Circus, a standout from his second album, he paints a world of fraying tents and weary performers still holding each other up. It’s a metaphor for resilience, connection, and staying close to what matters when the lights go out.

Live, Les brings the same depth and presence. Whether playing a festival stage or a candlelit hall, he creates space for feeling — laughter, stillness, sometimes tears. Audiences walk away not just remembering what they heard, but how it made them feel.

With two critically regarded albums — Survivor’s Tale (2013) and All My Friends Are Superstars (2023) — Les has appeared at festivals including Newstead Live, Tamworth Country Music Festival, and Burke & Wills, as well as taking his music to Nashville, Seattle, Tokyo, Ireland and Cornwall. He’s also a familiar voice at rallies and grassroots gatherings, where the power of song still matters.

Les Thomas writes for those who believe music can be more than entertainment. His songs are reminders — of truth, of tenderness, of what connects us when the world feels unsteady.

“Outstanding … Intelligent.” Billy Pinnell, 3AW 

“One of the best male artists going around at the moment – Les Thomas, is a great storyteller. Stunning.” Kaz Johnson, Cowgirl Up

“Remarkably perceptive, insightful and nuanced.” Stuart Coupe, author and music journalist

“Les Thomas’s superpower is as a lyricist – simple yet sophisticated, accessible yet uncompromising, ultimately honest and always with something powerful to say.” Ruth Hazleton

https://lesthomasmusic.bandcamp.com/album/all-my-friends-are-superstars