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 television 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]