SITTING here, January 4th, reflecting on the year that was 2015, and before wrapping the 12 months up there are a few thank yous in order...

First to family - fuck I know it's a cliché but it's true. This site exists through a lot of things but contributors make it. Melanie Brehaut, Andy Gillen, Darren McVeigh, Andrew Pennington, take a bow.

Next my colleagues in music reporting, Mark Ashby, Carolyn Ashby, Brenda P McTaggart and all the lensmen and women. Camaraderie

TWO gigs straddling the festive period, two fine examples of Northern Ireland's rock music scene, performed by a set of artists at their peak: The Answer's traditional Christmas show at the Diamond Rock Club and the first gig of the year at the same iconic venue headlined by Ricky Warwick.

Gasoline Outlawsemerged in 2015 as one of the most promising bands in the UK, with a début album bristling with belters, all brought

_{We’ve got to that point of the year where there seems to be an over-powering urge to list our favourite albums from the past 12 months and rave about how many gigs we’ve been to and which were the best. To be honest, I tend not to read other people’s lists or reviews and I’m not going to be presumptuous enough to think you want to read mine! If you’ve started reading this to find out my top ten anything then you have my apologies! What you do have are my brief reflections on the past year and a few words of thanks.}