Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer

Shawn Hall and Matthew Rogers met at a jingle recording session in 2006.[5][9] Hall worked for Citytv and Rogers was/is a film composer.[6] They discovered they had a mutual affinity for a multitude of musical genres, but mainly folk and blues. The band began as a folk duo and their sound continued to evolve into a bigger, more electric sound.[8]

They have had their songs featured on television shows such as CSI, NCIS New Orleans, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, and the TV movie Lizzie Borden Took an Ax.[10]

Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer are known for their energetic live shows and commanding stage presence and are popular on the festival circuit.[8] They have played SXSW 2013,[11] the 2013 Winnipeg Folk Festival,[12] the 2013 Ottawa Blues Fest,[13] the Atlin Arts & Music Festival, the Calgary Folk Music Festival,[14] the Vancouver Folk Music Festival,[15] the Festival d'été de Québec, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival,[16] the Queenscliff Music Festival[17] and the Montreal Jazz Fest.[18] They have shared the stage with Dr. Dog, St. Paul & The Broken Bones,[19] Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,[20] Taj Mahal, XIXA, Tinariwen, Booker T Jones, David Wilcox, Mother Mother, The Sheepdogs[21] and Serena Ryder.

Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer received a Sirius XM Indie award in 2013 for Blues Artist of the Year.[22] Their third album, Checkered Past (released on October 27, 2011)[23] was nominated at the Maple Blues Awards for 'Album of the Year' in 2013.[24] Shawn Hall was also nominated for a Maple Blues Award for Harmonica Player of the Year[25] In 2014,they were nominated for a Juno for their album A Real Fine Mess.[26] In 2017, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer won BreakOut Artist of the Year at the West Coast Music Awards[27] and were nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Recording/Producer of the Year & Harmonica Player of the Year for the 2018 Maple Blues Awards.[28]