The Tonalists are a 3-piece outfit from Melbourne, playing a soul blues inspired repertoire, inventively morphed to fit their line up of Hammond organ, pianos, guitar, lap steel, vocals and drums.

The band formed in 2019 between friends and former members of Long Black Limousine, Mick Coll (keyboards and vocals), Jason Kain (guitars) and Nigel Wright (drums and vocals).  A point of difference from the classic Hammond trio concept was the addition of acoustic and electric piano, slide guitar and lap steel to broaden the tonal range.  Before too long Tom Williams and Christian Foyle added trombone and saxophone respectively to the line up, bringing power and dynamics to the overall sound, and enriching the harmonic layering with vocals as well as brass.

Never that serious, the music goes wherever the mood of the audience and the band takes it – from the mellow and moody to the lazy and loose, inevitably arriving at that fun place with horns blasting, Hammond and guitar wailing, cymbals smashing…

And yes, conspicuous by its absence: bass guitar. Instead, the band takes a “less is more” approach to bass, using Hammond pedals and guitar octaver to create a resourceful, distinctive bottom end. It is part of what gives The Tonalists their unmistakable combined tone.

Setlist includes tunes by Lou Donaldson, Leon Russell, Gill Scott-Heron, Billy Preston to name a few...

Take a listen below:

The Tonalists - Rolling On 2024, various venues

The Tonalists @ Bar303 20240802

Multiple Ticket Prices + BF

Doors open at 7pm and tickets can be purchased below:

The Tonalists Tickets, George Lane, St Kilda | TryBooking Australia

See you there :)