HECTOR GANNET new single and ‘The Pitmans’ Parliament’ Co Durham date

Hector Gannet’s powerful North Eastern folk-rock-soul sound returns with new single: “The Mother Tongue”.

LISTEN TO “THE MOTHER TONGUE” HERE

The new single, “The Mother Tongue”, reprises the unabashed emotive potency that has seen this North Shields group praised by people as diverse as Chris Packham and Sam Fender and acclaimed as “North Shields’ answer to Crazy Horse” by Uncut magazine. 

While its music is driven-on by surging brass parts, its words look at mortality and the idea that whereof we cannot speak we must sing.

“This song was written when dealing with loss and grief,” says Hector Gannet singer/guitarist Aaron Duff, referring to the passing of a family member. “I just felt completely unequipped to deal with the abrupt finality of it all. If that person was stood in front of me now and I tried to express those emotions, I’m sure we’d both laugh and joke about it just to get through things. It’s hard to say goodbye in a situation like that and I had to put it into a song to be able to do it.”

The new single is taken from what will be the band’s third album, ‘The Great Shakedown’, to be released in October.

Centred on uplifting brass parts and a momentum that borders on the euphoric, “The Mother Tongue” connects with the band’s Tyneside origins in typical style. 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 in 1968. The riverside, streets and team colours are there in the new single’s lyrics, while the track carries its emotional weight in the way communities often do – not through confession, but through action; by showing rather than saying. Beneath the propulsive brass lies something more subtle – an examination of stoicism as both armour and wound. The words muse on the peculiarities of a shared language, one that can be used to avoid saying the very things that need to be said. 

Hector Gannet’s gathering glories have built through two previous albums, ‘Big Harcar’ (2020) and ‘The Land Belongs to Us’ (2023). As well as two visits to the US, there have been live dates with major artists including Elbow and Sea Power, Lindisfarne and Richard Thompson – plus massive shows with Sam Fender at the vast North Eastern shrine that is Newcastle United’s St James’ Park ground.

The band are now looking forward to forthcoming dates for the rest of 2026 that include the fitting “Talking In The Mother Tongue”, a one-off special with Durham Miners’ Association Brass Band. This night will be part of the 2026 Durham Brass Festival and will be held at another working-class shrine – the ‘Pitmans’ Parliament’ at Redhills, Co Durham. The band are also lining up dates to accompany the release of the new album, including a return to Gateshead Glasshouse, on the banks of the Tyne. Full list of confirmed dates are as follows:

HECTOR GANNET – 2026 LIVE DATES

July 17th – Durham Brass Festival – ‘The Pitmans’ Parliament’ Co Durham

Aug 29th – Krankenhaus Festival – The English Lake District

Oct 3rd – Twisterella Festival – Middlesbrough 

Oct 28th – Musicport Festival – Whitby

Nov 27th – Sage Hall Two – Glasshouse Gateshead (album launch)

HECTOR GANNET – STREAM NEW SINGLE “THE MOTHER TONGUE” HERE

NEW ALBUM ‘THE GREAT SHAKEDOWN’
– OUT THIS OCTOBER

FOR MORE INFORMATION
w/ https://hectorgannet.com/