When Shawn Hall steps onto the stage at Victoria’s Harbour Blues ‘n Roots Festival, it isn’t just another gig – it’s a homecoming, and a rare chance to build something that grows with every song: momentum, connection and magic.
“It’s powerful,” says Hall, lead vocalist and harmonica-wielding half of The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer. “The music, the people, the lineup. The conversations. That kind of exchange – it doesn’t happen in a bar gig. That’s festival energy.”
Hall and longtime collaborator Matthew Rogers headline the festival’s opening night on Friday, Aug. 22, performing on the Ship Point waterfront stage. The three-day outdoor event, presented by the Victoria Jazz Society, brings top-tier blues, soul and roots acts to the Inner Harbour each summer. This year’s lineup includes Shemekia Copeland, Bywater Call, Wet Future, Big Hank & The Smokin' Hot Toasters, and rising Nanaimo talent James Vickers with his band.
"This one feels personal – it’s the only Island gig like this we’re doing."
For Hall, who lives in Nanaimo, Victoria holds special meaning.
“My folks live here,” he says. “They always come out, bring friends. This one feels personal – it’s the only Island gig like this we’re doing.”
Over nearly 20 years, The Harpoonist & the Axe Murderer have evolved from a gritty two-man blues outfit into a dynamic festival band. Their sound blends blues and soul with rock-and-roll swagger – rhythmic, raw and emotionally loaded. Hall credits artists like Kris Kristofferson as a lyrical inspiration, especially for their ability to distill deep human truths into plainspoken poetry.
That influence even helped shape the band’s name. “There’s a line in Me and Bobby McGee – ‘I pulled my harpoon from my dirty red bandana’ – and Matt grabbed onto that,” Hall explains. “We didn’t realize until later how nautically perfect it was. I’m the harpoonist on harmonica. He’s the axe murderer on guitar. It just stuck.”
The name reflects their early style – barebones, high-stakes, deeply expressive – and that elemental energy still pulses through their live shows, now amplified by a full rhythm section and expanded palette.
“We’re digging way back – stuff we haven’t played in 10, 15 years,” Hall says. “Songs like Hard on Things – people still stop me and say, ‘You wrote that about me.’”
Offstage, Hall is especially excited to reconnect with Toronto’s seven-member supergroup Bywater Call, and to catch a glimpse of someone much closer to home:
“James Vickers is a teenage guitar shredder from Nanaimo,” he says. “He’s tapped into something real. That kid’s carrying the torch.”
Learn more and see the full Harbour Blues ‘n Roots Festival lineup at jazzvictoria.ca/harbour-blues
