Book Ax and the Hatchetmen for colleges, corporate events, fairs, festivals, casinos & private shows. Contact Degy Entertainment for booking info.
Ax and the Hatchetmen are an American alternative and indie rock band out of Chicago, and they have spent the years since 2018 sharpening a sound that leans as much on pop hooks as it does on guitars. The breadth shows in the catalog: the early Love Songs gave way to So Much To Tell You, a 2025 record that earned Album of the Week honors and arrived a year later in a deluxe edition. That is a band that keeps returning to its best work to push it further.
They came up in Chicago and built out from there. The lineup is led by Axel Ellis on lead vocals and guitar, alongside Salvatore Defilippis on guitar, Hunter Olshefke on bass, and Phil Pistone on trumpet, a horn that gives the band a bigger, brighter footprint than a standard guitar four-piece. Signed to SME, they have carried that sound to stages like the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and the Santa Barbara Bowl, and onto festival bills including Summerfest in Milwaukee. With a college-circuit history that runs through rooms like the Loeb Playhouse at Purdue, they are a natural fit for campus programming, festival and fair lineups, corporate events, and private shows.
