Hector Gannet are both a band and a solo act from the town of North Shields, high on England’s north east coast. Things centre on lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Aaron Duff whose compositions draw closely on his beloved home terrain. Yet Hector Gannet’s music – folk, rock, ancient, modern – also reaches out into the wider world. Hector Gannet have been praised by music lovers from Chris Packham to Sam Fender, while Uncut magazine called the band “North Shields’ answer to Crazy Horse”. There have been live dates with artists from Elbow, Sea Power and Pete Doherty to Lindisfarne, Richard Thompson and Kathryn Williams – plus massive shows with Sam Fender at the vast North Eastern shrine that is Newcastle United’s St James’ Park football ground.
Sam Fender has been a conspicuous supporter of Hector Gannet, proclaiming Aaron “a fucking great songwriter”. The pair went to the same school in North Shields, with Aaron two years below Sam. They occasionally jammed together in Aaron’s bedroom, but then diverged toward their own musical goals. To date, Hector Gannet have released two albums – debut Big Harcar in 2020, followed by The Land Belongs To Us in 2023, both now sold out. These records are full of a kind of new, modernist folk music; age-old musical idioms combined with literate, idealistic, disparate lyrics. Boudicca, Wilfred Owen, coastal architecture, JMW Turner, the October sun, eyes like piss holes in the snow and invocation of the Sycamore Gap, long before the destruction of this celebrated Northumbrian tree – all this and more is alluded to in the HG songbook.
Hector Gannet have drawn some pleasing reactions. On BBC 6 Music, musician and broadcaster Tom Robinson greeted a “band of exceptional talent”. In a four-star review, MOJO magazine saluted the “pointedly political, natural-world-advocating folk rock” of the The Land Belongs To Us album. The Louder Than War website chose Hector Gannet among 25 bands that might change your life.
Hector Gannet are named after a fishing vessel of the same name, a boat which Aaron’s late paternal grandfather served on and which suffered fatal misadventure off Great Yarmouth in 1968. Aaron stresses the importance of the band’s North Eastern origins: “I don’t think my music would sound anything like this if I weren’t from this area. With North Shields and the North East, I feel a strong connection to the past, the present and the future – and also to nature and humanity through the physical things that surround me. That’s my church, I suppose, and it gives me and my music an identity. In that regard, the music and words almost write themselves.”
Aaron’s family are steeped in the fishing industry of North Shields, although the decline of this industry has seen the family diversify into other areas. His father is a retired firefighter, and Aaron runs a coffee bar on the Fish Quay when not working as a musician. Aaron’s local passions and interests have become a core part of Hector Gannet. In 2017, Aaron wrote music to accompany vintage footage of North Eastern shipbuilding and fishing – as part of a project for the British Film Institute. While looking through the archive film, Aaron was amazed to find footage of his paternal grandparents and an uncle. Hector Gannet’s music has also been used to promote the conservation of seabirds in the North East. In 2021, funds generated by the Into The Deep EP went to help wildlife conservation work from British Divers Marine Life Rescue and Wild Intrigue.
In 2024, Hector Gannet appeared at the Durham Brass Festival, augmented by a brass section. In due course, brass instruments have become an important part of the band’s forthcoming third album, to be called The Great Shakedown, due later in 2026. The album features impressive brass arrangements from North Shields-resident US brass expert Jason Holcomb, who has worked with Ohio soul supremos The O’Jays.
As Hector Gannet embrace fresh dimensions, the new album also features church bells and a choir, recorded live at the 17th-century Christ Church in North Shields, with the bells’ melody plotted by the church’s Ringing Master. The new track Seven Signs is a rousing soul sermon which blends the group’s North Eastern heart with touches of Dexy’s, Style Council-period Paul Weller and a little bit of the Boss. As sweet brass lines sound out, a wheezing Archangel Gabriel is relocated to the edge of Springsteen’s Born To Run, “Pulling at the feathers / Underneath his motorcycle vest.” There will be more brass in July, when Hector Gannet are set to play a special event at the Durham Miners’ Hall, AKA the Pitman’s Parliament, in Durham. Hector Gannet will be accompanied by the full Durham Colliery Brass Band.
As work continues on the new Hector Gannet album, a wonderful memory palace is taking shape, one that both encompasses the band’s native North East and looks beyond. Here are songs that brim with hope, ideas and empathy. The lyrics take in human history, human connection and our devotional rituals; prayer books, work, war, and the sea. The latter subject matter courses through the track The Jetty’s End. And perched on that jetty, we find a powerful, haunting presence. Cormorants, their wings drying in heraldic repose, like birds at the end of the world.
Showcase & Festivals Appearances 2026
- January – Show Your Roots – Belfast
- March 11-18th – SXSW – Austin, Texas
- May 23rd – A Stones Throw Festival – North Shields
- June 13th – Hoganberry Weekender – Cumbria
- July 17th – Durham Brass Festival – Co Durham (*Headline)
- Aug 29th – Krankenhaus Festival – The English Lake District
- Oct 3rd – Twisterella Festival – Middlesbrough
- Oct 24th – Musicport Festival – Whitby (*Headline)
Hector Gannet (full band)
- Aaron Duff – Guitar and lead vocal
- Jack Coe – Drums
- Joe Coady – Bass
- Martin Wann – Guitar
- Alex Blamire – Organ, percussion
- Jason Holcomb – Trombone and brass arrangement.
SOCIALS = @hectorgannet
- Website: https://hectorgannet.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hectorgannet/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hectorgannet/
- Bandcamp: https://hectorgannet.bandcamp.com
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2qXBP0gz1R6RscrTKs41Sx?si=307ECRFKTyKglSD59oiklQ
- Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/hector-gannet/1481325775
- X: https://x.com/HectorGannet
- Adobe Express: https://express.adobe.com/page/DXBJzCfgTkyjK
CONTACT
- MANAGEMENT: mark@noredindian.co.uk
- UK BOOKINGS: gail@laughingdogmusic.co.uk