Live music is becoming part of the fabric of the I Love North Shields Vintage Market, and over the coming weeks we’ll be introducing some of the musicians who’ll be joining us at Salt Market Social.
Working alongside LLIVELY Music, we want the market to be somewhere people don’t simply come to shop. It’s a place to discover independent traders, hear new music, eat, drink, meet people and spend a Sunday together on North Shields Fish Quay.
One of the musicians joining us is Sam Bennett, a North Shields-based singer-songwriter whose music draws on indie folk, Americana, alternative country and, most importantly, real life.
Songs about people, places and life
Sam describes his music simply as:
“Emotionally raw songs about everyday people, places and my own life experiences.”
Musically, his influences move between indie folk, singer-songwriter, Americana and alternative country, but storytelling sits at the heart of it.
Music entered Sam’s life early. He began writing lyrics at just ten years old, encouraged by his great auntie Janette, who spotted the poet in him. By twelve, he was teaching himself guitar — helped along by a grandad who, Sam admits, may have bought him “a few too many guitars”.
His early bands were influenced by Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and Pixies.
“Hopefully some of that angst still comes through somewhere in what I do today,” he says.
Start with ‘Wonderful Life’
If you’re discovering Sam for the first time, he recommends beginning with ‘Wonderful Life’.
It was the first song he wrote as a solo artist, sitting on his girlfriend’s red corduroy settee in Anniesland, Glasgow, with the window open and STV playing on mute.
The song was inspired by watching the grandparents who raised him grow older while he travelled between Glasgow and Billingham, where he is originally from.
For Sam, it became much more than another song.
“‘Wonderful Life’ means the most to me because it established my style and became the blueprint for everything that followed.”
Next came ‘Glasgow Rain’, a song about his relationship and the city he says he “fell head over heels for”.
His advice if you’re new to his music? Start with those two.
Keeping the rough edges
There’s something deliberately unpolished about the music Sam loves.
He cites Zach Bryan as an important influence, particularly his approach to capturing songs simply and immediately rather than polishing away their character.
“That idea of just putting a phone or a microphone in a room and capturing the song there and then really appeals to me,” Sam says.
“I’m drawn to that raw, immediate feeling rather than everything being too polished.”
Sam Fender has also been significant. Sam saw him perform in the early days at Edinburgh’s Mash House and later at Tynemouth Priory.
For Sam, seeing somebody from a similar background writing openly about their own world demonstrated what was possible.
More recently, he’s been listening to Irish artists including Aaron Rowe, Amble, Fontaines and Clifford’s, particularly admiring musicians who retain their accents and distinctive turns of phrase in their songwriting.
“It’s stunning,” he says, “and makes everything feel like I’m stepping fully into their experiences.”
Music helped bring Sam to North Shields
There’s another lovely connection between Sam’s music and the place he now calls home.
Seeing Hector Gannet perform at The Exchange and watching the documentary 800 Years: Here We Are, exploring North Shields and its musical history, helped cement Sam’s desire to move here.
And Salt Market Social already holds a memory for him.
Sam previously supported local band The Glorious Deadbeats at the venue shortly after moving to North Shields, so returning to perform as part of the Vintage Market feels a little like coming back to somewhere familiar.
“I love the venue,” he says. “It already has a bit of history for me.”
But it’s the wider atmosphere that he’s particularly looking forward to.
“There’s the unbelievable coffee, all kinds of food that will leave you absolutely stuffed and a real sense of the North Shields community.
“It is very similar to where I come from and there’s something really special about the atmosphere here — many working class people who still have a bit of love and hope in their eyes.
“I’m really looking forward to being back there and being part of it.”
Come and hear Sam at the Vintage Market
Sam joins the growing live music programme at the I Love North Shields Vintage Market, developed in collaboration with LLIVELY Music.
Alongside more than 50 vintage and antique traders across two floors, we’re bringing music, food, creativity and people together under one roof — creating a market that’s as much about spending time together as it is about what you take home.
📅 Sunday 25 October 2026
📍 Salt Market Social, North Shields Fish Quay
🛍️ Vintage Market: 10am–4pm
🎶 Food, drinks and music until 7pm
🎟️ Free entry
Sam is on Instagram and TikTok at @sambennett_music.
We’ll be introducing more of the musicians joining us over the coming weeks.
Come for the vintage. Stay for the social — and discover some new music along the way. ❤️🎶
