The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer Create A Real Fine Mess

THE HARPOONIST & THE AXE MURDERER ANNOUNCE WEST COAST TOUR DATES
IN SUPPORT OF A REAL FINE MESS

A Real Fine Mess Was Released Digitally This Past June, The Band Will Re-release in 2015 With Additional Tracks

The Duo Will Support Tinariwen On The West Coast

“A Real Fine Mess is a slick, radio-friendly production. It’s essentially a musician’s and songwriter’s showcase of what can be accomplished with an arsenal of great songs that run the gamut of a variety of styles and feels.” – Popmatters

“this duo is making some of the most gritty, raw and muddy music north of Mississippi.” – CBC

The Vancouver duo, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer have announced a handful of west coast tour dates in support of their latest album, A Real Fine Mess. The album, the duo’s third full length, was released digitally on June 17, 2014. The 14-track release has been receiving such incredible buzz, they just confirmed they will re-release physically in early 2015. The band has plans to record additional tracks which will be added to the digital release. Shawn “The Harpoonist” Hall and Matt “The Axe Murderer” Rogers have been touring throughout North America in support of the release and this fall they will make their way down to the west coast for a handful of dates opening for Tinariwen. The pair will join the band on the road in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Fe and more, with one solo show in Las Veagas on October 31.

A Real Fine Mess explores complicated dichotomies, like how one’s life can appear successful on one hand, yet be clouded by doubt and struggles on the other and how all that is celebrated hangs in the balance with the potential to fall apart at any moment. Recently the band found themselves increasingly inspired not only by the electric “groove blues” of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s but also by the music of their peers. A wee hours stairwell serenade led to unprecedented vocal collaborations and an awkwardly mismatched festival workshop made the two realize that they needed to up their game as songwriters and lyricists. The recording came with its own challenges as the two live in different cities separated by 34 nautical miles of sea. 18 ferry trips, 3 missed flights, countless breakdowns, and a barrage of text and email arguments later A Real Fine Mess was born.

In reality, Shawn Hall and Matthew Rogers evoke much more than just grisly nautical imagery. Armed with an arsenal of harmonicas, a mess of foot percussion, and a road-worn Telecaster, the duo kick out raw and primal blues in the tradition of a what Scott Brown of What’s Up Yukon calls “decades-deep blues style,” while infusing the genre with a jolt of renewed energy. The two met and bonded over music while recording a radio jingle. Their memorable name is inspired by a lyric from Kris Kristofferson’s “Bobby McGee” that references the blues harp, (“I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana”) and ‘axe’, a common term for the guitar. Their influences range from the iconic songwriting of Willie Dixon to the boundary pushing of Jack White and Danger Mouse but their sound is distinctly their own, smothered in greasy, gritty soul and imbued with funk. Shawn Hall provides the rousing, rugged vocals and blues harmonica, while Matthew Rogers rips on the guitar and pounds the skins with his feet. Their music is unapologetic. It slaps you in the face and makes you sweat like it’s a sticky, summer night. It cuts you to the core. It’s the blues played the way it was meant to be played. The duo have been nominated for multiple Maple Blues Awards and won “Blues Act of the Year” at the SiriusXM Indies in 2013. They have also pounded their fair share of festival stages including SXSW 2013/14, Winnipeg Folk Fest, Ottawa Blues Fest, Calgary Folk Fest, and Montreal Jazz Fest. Along the way they’ve shared the stage with Taj Mahal, Booker T Jones, David Wilcox, Mother Mother, The Sheep Dogs, and Serena Ryder. They’ve also had songs featured on television shows such as the ‘The Good Wife’, ‘Blue Bloods’, and the aptly-named TV movie ‘Lizzie Borden Took An Axe’.

Tour Dates:
October 25 – Los Angeles, CA – Luckman Fine Arts Centre
October 27 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
October 29 – Napa Valley, CA – City Winery
October 31 – Las Vegas, NV – Bunkhouse saloon*
November 1 – Tucson, AZ – Solar Culture
November 2 – Flagstaff, AZ – The Orpheum
November 3 – Santa Fe, NM – Skylight

*The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer solo show