For fans of... The Black Keys, Jack White, Danger Mouse

“...a real blues kitchen with all sorts of ingredients in the pan.” - Pop Matters

Canadian duo The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer are about to embark on their first European tour supporting Dr. Dog (April 19th - 25th) and XIXA (April 27th - May 2nd). Catch them in London on April 25th 2016 at Oslo in Hackney in anticipation of their latest single Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To, which is out on May 6th 2016 via Tonic Records.

The video for Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To premiered on The Blues Magazine and it is also available to watch via the band’s YouTube channel now.


The duo combines the classic blues rock sound of Willie Dixon but with a modern edge akin to Jack White and The Black Keys. Together, the pair have created a their own take on the genre, smothered in greasy, gritty soul and imbued with and injection of funk.

The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer are Shawn Hall (lead vocals, harmonica) and Matthew Rogers (guitar, drums, backing vocals). The two met and bonded over music whilst at a recording session for a radio jingle and named their new project after the blues harp reference lyric “I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana” from Kris Kristofferson’s Bobby Mcgee and the term “axe” as a common reference to a guitar. Since then, the guys have gone from strength to strength with the release of their debut album The Blues Can Kill in 2007, the widely acclaimed Checkered Past in 2011 and most recently, A Real Fine Mess in 2014.

The two-piece have already received praise from the likes of Exclaim!, Pop Matters and The Blues Magazine amongst others. They have also been nominated for Blues Album of the Year at the Junos in 2014, for multiple Maple Blues Awards and won Blues Act of the Year at the SiriusXM Indies in 2013. Despite this being their first European tour, they are far from unknown on the live circuit, having already played at SXSW 2013/14, Ottawa Blues Festival, Montreal Jazz Fest and have shared the stage with Taj Mahal, Booker T Jones, David Wilcox and Mother Mother, to name but a few. Catch them live at the following dates:

April 19th - Privatclub - Berlin
April 20th - Nichtspeicher - Hamburg
April 21st - Sugar Mountain At Paradiso - Amsterdam
April 22nd - Bababoum - Paris
April 23rd - Cafe De Zwerver - Oostende
April 25th - Oslo - London
April 27th - Blue Shell - Cologne
April 29th - La Graviere, Geneva
April 30th - Hafen 2 - Offenbach
May 1st - Slowclub - Freiburg
May 2nd - El Lokal - Zurich
The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer’s latest single Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To is out on May 6th 2016 via Tonic Records.