There's no question as to the identity of Northern Ireland's breakthrough artist of 2015. Derry teenager SOAK made good on her enormous potential – not to mention the weight of expectation that has followed her around since she was 14 – by releasing her debut album on legendary London label Rough Trade, touring far and wide, and being rewarded with a Mercury Prize nomination and a Northern Ireland Music Prize victory. Nice work, Bridie.

As for 2016, it's not quite so straightforward. We may not have the dead certs that SOAK always seemed to be, but there's potential in spades, and the odd returning hero…

Pleasure Beach

Next year's biggest hopes have been around longer than you think – Pleasure Beach is the latest incarnation of the band formerly known as Yes Cadets and, before that, The Elliots. This time they seem a strong bet for success with songs like Go and a big-hearted, anthemic sound that pitches the band somewhere between The National and Arcade Fire.

Robocobra Quartet

Fusing jazz, hip-hop, beat poetry and the spirit of hardcore punk, Robocobra Quartet have been a serious live draw around Belfast for the last couple of years. In 2015 they began to venture further afield with dates across the water. They're too weird to be massive, but a definitive artistic statement is still to come. Maybe we'll hear it in 2016.

Two Door Cinema Club

Things have been quiet on the Two Door front for over two years now – despite Alex Trimble saying at one point that their third album would be out by early 2015. It looks like 2016 will be the year, and given that they are now signed to Parlophone (home of Coldplay and Blur) you can expect the new record to make a lot of noise when it arrives.

Chris Hanna

Belfast-based electronic producer Chris Hanna seems to stand at a crossroads. His short-lived downtempo project, Unknown/UNKNWN/OneKnown has apparently come to an end, with Hanna returning to his house and techno roots via releases on Ejeca's label Exploris and Timmy Stewart and John McIver's label Extended Play. Whether 2016 brings atmospheric electronics or club bangers, his reputation is only likely to grow.

exmagician

Cashier No.9, we hardly knew ye. The Carryduff quartet quietly called it a day a couple of years after receiving plaudits from home and abroad for their 2011 album To The Death Of Fun. But now songwriters Danny Todd and James Smith are back with a new name and a new vehicle. Their psychedelic, groove-heavy indie rock sound remains, but this time with a grittier, darker bent.

Jessica Doherty

Young Derry singer-songwriter Doherty enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2015, her music having taken her to Los Angeles and put her on stages alongside the likes of SOAK, PORTS, Ciaran Lavery and Booka Brass Band. Her delicately beautiful single 'Wolves', released during the summer, served notice of her promise. Expect much more to come in 2016.

Jealous of the Birds

This time last year, Portadown teenager Naomi Hamilton was unknown to all but friends and family. Then in March she released a home-recorded EP of rare quality and charm and sent the NI music fraternity scrambling to find out more about her. She's been performing with ever-greater confidence and we hear she's been recording in a studio too – let's hope the intimacy and character of her music remains, because it's very special.

Ciaran Lavery

In 2015, singer-songwriter Ciaran Lavery put his solo career on the backburner as he focused on Sea Legs, his beautiful, ethereal collaborative album with electronic producer Ryan Vail. However, he finished the year with a solo show at Belfast's The MAC theatre, and 2016 looks like being the year where he makes his own indelible mark. Recently signed to 'a large indie label' (your guess is as good as ours), the second solo album from Lurgan's answer to Damien Rice is out in May.

Katharine Philippa

2015 was a relatively quiet year for the prodigiously talented singer, songwriter, musician and producer. But she did seem to choose her performances well, selling out a Belfast show for the first time and playing in Dublin and Cork to boot.

Philippa finished the year by releasing a fine collaborative single with Edward Butler, but even without that she would merit inclusion on this list. She is a marvel – genuinely one of the biggest talents we have – so maybe 2016 will see that talent reach full flower.

Malojian

It was only in May that Stevie Scullion aka Malojian released his lovely, bucolic second album Southlands. But he's not a man to take it easy if he can help it, and in February he's heading to Chicago to record his next album with none other than Steve Albini. The former Nirvana and Pixies producer (sorry, 'recording engineer') is famous for his old school approach and fastidious attention to detail, so combined with Malojian's songs the results should be essential listening.

Sea Pinks

Also unlikely to ever rest on his laurels, Neil Brogan has just released his fifth Sea Pinks album in a little over six years – his second since recruiting a permanent band and making use of a proper studio. By now, fans will know what to expect – bittersweet indie-pop par excellence, gloriously unbeholden to the whims of fashion and getting better all the time. This time round, even the London critics are taking note…

A Bad Cavalier

Back in 2011, former Panama Kings frontman Niall Kennedy was all set to launch a new vehicle for his songs. But then he was invited to join And So I Watch You From Afar as their new guitarist, and so the last four years have been a whirlwhind of touring. In 2015 he finally put a band together, played some gigs and released a couple of tunes – much to the delight of PKs fans. Look out for more in 2016 – ASIWYFA commitments permitting.

Autumns

For my money, Derry post-punkers Autumns were one of the live acts of 2015 – they channel Joy Division, the Jesus and Mary Chain and The Birthday Party with a viscerally powerful live show that is impossible to look away from.

That's partly down to the wiry presence of frontman Christian Donaghey and partly down to the gleeful joy with which they make an unholy, pitch-black racket. It's been a drip-drip of single and EP releases so far, so keep your ear to the ground.

Goons

Comprising members of the much-heralded but now defunct alt. rock bands Fighting With Wire and LaFaro, Goons are a band with pedigree. Their debut Belfast gig was well-attended and very promising, but that was almost a year ago and little has been heard from the band since. We understand that they plan to record an album before the summer and, with that, presumably there will be gigs too.

More speakers have been announced for a major conference being held at The MAC in Belfast next month to inspire those working in the music industry.

Appearing alongside renowned producer Steve Albini – who in his only European speaking engagement this year will deliver a keynote – will be Paul Hartnoll, formerly one half of pioneering dance duo Orbital, leading a session on music composition based on his experience of scoring BBC drama Peaky Blinders, with music supervisor Amelia Hartley on February 18.

Other workshops include 'Music for Gaming' with Tomb Raider composer Nathan McCree and the filmmaker behind music-for-games documentary Beep, as well as a co-writing panel with BBC 6 Music-endorsed artist Nadine Shah, noted hit single publishers Notting Hill Music and pop songwriter Gary Clark.

Organised by Belfast City Council and Generator NI, the event will also feature a direct-to-fan Q&A with the artist Bry; a session on jazz music artist development by MOBO-nominated artist David Lyttle; representatives from many of the national music stakeholder organizations including PRS for Music, PPL, Featured Artist Coalition (F.A.C), CMU, Help Musicians, IMRO, BMI, SESAC and MCPS.

Composer Nathan McCree, famed for his work on the Tomb Raider series

In addition attendees can expect content from bloggers such as Nialler 9 and author Wyndham Wallace (Lee, Myself And I - Inside The Very Special World Of Lee Hazlewood); a series of Abelton live workshops presented in association with AVA Festival (who will also be running an event on boutique festival creation introduced by the chairman of A.I.F, the Association of Independent Festivals); sessions by music supervisors on music placement in television; and a session on PR and media opportunities in rock and metal. More panels will be announced soon.

The conference is expected to be attended by around 500 local artists, businesses and students, and will address the challenges and opportunities that the music industry presents, highlighting the key role that music and performance plays within Northern Ireland’s buoyant creative industries sector.

Councillor Deirdre Hargey, Chair of the council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee, said: 'The economic and cultural contribution and potential of the creative industries is widely acknowledged.

'The council is committed to supporting those working in the fields of film, music, digital media and design to achieve their true economic and creative potential. This unique one-day event is designed to provide a high quality, internationally recognised conference and showcasing event that will help to underpin and accelerate the development of skills, networks and market opportunities for artists and businesses in Belfast’s burgeoning music industry sector,' she added.

After the day's sessions the emphasis will switch to live music, with a series of free pop-up gigs at venues across the city centre. Details of the music programme will be announced at the end of this month.

Registration is now open at www.outputbelfast.com.

It’s weird enough that at the age of 68 filmmaker John T. Davis, whose much-admired documentaries have included Shellshock Rock, about Northern Irish punk music, and Route 66, about the semi-mythical American highway of that name, has made his recording debut as a singer-songwriter. What’s even more weird is that he has released two albums simultaneously: Last Western Cowboy and Indigo Snow.

‘I don’t really think of them as "the first album" and "the second album", he says. ‘I think of them as all of the same stuff because they were recorded at basically the same long session.’ Davis does, however, believe that Last Western Cowboy has more of a country feel and Indigo Snow is more western.

‘There’s a distinction between country music and western music,’ he explains. ‘I’ve made several movies in Nashville and I know all about country music and I’ve also spent a fair bit of time travelling in the west and I would say that country music is about relationships and how they can come and go and be good and bad and western music is more to do with the environment and simpler things.’

Davis sounds thrilled to have created the albums. ‘I’m new to this game, I’ve come to it very, very late in life, and I don’t quite believe I’ve done it,’ he laughs.

The album was produced by Mudd Wallace whose recent death, aged 59, shocked the Northern Irish music community. Davis readily acknowledges that Wallace’s expertise was invaluable in bringing the albums to fruition.

‘He was a wonderful character,’ recalls Davis. ‘He was an incredible musician with an incredible ear and the ability to navigate through a song and hear it the way it should be heard.

‘It was a steep learning curve for me and I was amazed how Mudd was able to weave the different musicians together and know what to put in and where and also leave space for the vocals.’

The albums reflect Davis’s affinity with America’s Old West, an affinity so profound that he believes that he may have lived there in a previous life. ‘Was I there?’ he muses. ‘Was I there when the golden spike was hammered in and the railroads [linking America’s east and west coasts] met in Utah? I’ve been several times to the Navajo Reservation and you see a buffalo run and it’s something I relate to deep inside.

‘Reincarnation is a big word but I have a sense of being born in another time and relating to that time more [than the present].’

Davis’s identification with America began early, he explains: ‘I’m of an age where cowboys and Indians were what you played as a kid and my heroes were western heroes like Hopalong Cassidy – and there’s a song about Hopalong ['Ol’ Hoppy'] on Last Western Cowboy. That sort of stuff is deep for me and I always feel that when I step out of my driveway into Northern Ireland, it’s like my home is in a different place altogether.’

Many of Davis’s songs have actually been inspired by his visits to America. ‘Gas Station Roses’, for example, has its origin in San Antonio. ‘My partner Lesley and I both liked dancing,’ he says, ‘and the song’s about a dancehall we went to, the Midnight Rodeo.

‘It was a big corrugated honky tonk and the dance floor was like a race track – it even seemed banked on the corners - where the couples would go round in an anti-clockwise direction doing the Texas two-step. But it’s really a song about love growing cold because I sing, “When love left the dancefloor...”’

‘Over There’ was co-written with Sam R. Gibson who himself has recently released an impressive album, Seeking The Assassin. ‘I was in Mississippi when America was at war in Iraq and it was about 100 degrees,’ recalls Davis. 

‘I came out of this diner and across the street was this old character who looked World War II vintage, with a thousand yard stare, selling watermelons. I didn’t speak to him but I just said, “He stood in the shade/By the watermelon glade/And stared into a land/He used to understand.” And that haunted me. And then I saw Old Glory hanging limp in the dead air and the metaphor of that came to me.

‘And when I got back home I worked on it with Sam and he came up with “Are we fighting for Jesus or gold?” and “Does the banner hang stained?” It’s about all wars.’

One of Davis’s most memorable songs is ‘Hank’s Song’, a tribute to Hank Williams, one of his musical heroes. The song was written after he visited the grave of Williams and his wife Audrey in Montgomery, Alabama.

‘I had a moment of reverence and then I said, “I’m going to sing a song for Hank”,’ he reminisces. ‘So out came the guitar and I sang [the Hank Williams song] ‘You’re Gonna Change’ with tears in my eyes. It’s about Miss Audrey and him so I thought it was appropriate.

‘That experience gave me the line for my song: “Looking for the grave of old Hank Senior …” And the graveyard gave me the next line: “I laid my hand on your stone Stetson hat/Reached down to feel the soul of the hillbilly cat/And I felt your tears for all those years…”’

Davis seems flummoxed when I note, approvingly, that although he performs in American musical styles and uses American vernacular in his lyrics, he sings in his own Northern Irish accent.

‘I just sing the way I sing and I don’t think of it as a Northern Irish accent,’ he says. ‘In fact, I’m shocked at you saying that because you have to sing in the idiom. Singing country music or western music or rock’n’roll in an Ulster accent just doesn’t work so I don’t think I sing in an accent - but if I had the choice I would like to have a voice that came out of deepest Oklahoma or Montana!’

Last Western Cowboy and Indigo Snow by John T. Davis are both now available to purchase via Amazon, iTunes and Google Play. For the latest news and updates visit www.johntdavisfilmandmusic.com.

St Kentigern’s Irish Social Club is in Fallowfield, Manchester. I went there one Sunday afternoon, to watch Tyrone play the final of the Sam Maguire Cup. The place was packed. Everyone was squeezed into one jersey or another – mainly Tyrone and, probably, Kerry, but most counties were represented. It was more than likely the same in the Bowling Green in Chorlton, and at Pogue Mahone in Liverpool, not to mention clubs and pubs and bars in London, Glasgow, New York, Boston, Sydney, Melbourne…

I read somewhere that Tayto sell over a million packets of crisps a year in Ireland, just to people who send them to relatives overseas. Culture is art and literature and sculpture and history and sport and it’s also what goes into people’s mouths and what comes out of people’s mouths.

Food and Folksong is subtitled 'A Worldwide Irish Legacy', and presented by Emmett McCourt, chef and award-winning author of Feast or Famine. The audience are invited to sample food prepared by McCourt’s team, while enjoying a selection of Irish folk songs performed by Brian Mullen, The Henry Girls, Daoirí Farrell, Mary Dillon, Kathleen MacInnes, Alan Burke, and Kate Crossan.

It is a night of old and new, departure and return, exchange, experience, tradition, and innovation. It is culture – not static and set, but fluid and malleable.

The songs are emigrants’ laments. They remember leaving Derry’s harbour, bidding farewell to old Ireland, voyages to Van Dieman’s Land. There is plaintive yearning for lost loves and homes never to be seen again and lands that only existed in memory, and of drinking and fighting and dying.

The performances are uniformly beautiful. Mary Dillon’s voice is intense and brooding, with a sense of danger and threat. The Henry Girls’ harmonies are clear and pure and passionate. Alan Burke and Daoiri Farrell sing with gusto and humour; Kate Crossan and Kathleen MacInnes with poignancy and bite.

It's honest, and they mean it, but there is more to it than that: the musicians treat the music with respect, but regard it from a modern perspective. Some of the songs come with a twist, with new and surprising arrangements. If the music is about staying away, the performances are about coming back. In that way it complements the food, which looks both ways too.

The food is big and dainty. There are buttermilk shots! There is corned beef and boxty bread, pork belly and Boston beans, whiskey and moonshine-cured salmon, oatcakes, lumper potatoes, buttermilk, injun meal, seaweed and samphire. But everything comes on slate sheets, mouthfuls on sweet little forks, Irish amuse-bouches.

This is a modern night. It isn't a maudlin indulgence in misty-eyed memories of the auld country. This is all about the new country, a proud assertion of a rich identity. It doesn't slump or apologise or mumble; it just glances back and steps forward, confident, assertive, holding and shaping its own resources, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and going toe-to-toe with anywhere.

The venue is telling – a beautiful, much-admired modern building; not a museum, but something bold, alive, and vibrant. And the ingredients tell the same story – new products taking the best of the old – Northbound Beer, Broighter Gold, Dart Mountain Cheese. This is a wonderful, proud evening that's all about heritage and future.

For forthcoming events and news from Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin and the Derry International Irish Music Festival visit www.culturlann-doire.ie.

Little wonder that death and heartache are the staple themes of universal folk music. After all, just consider the state of the world. Yet the very beauty of its physical landscapes and the songs of its seasons also inspires so much beguiling folk music.

The Transatlantic Sessions supergroup -– the jewel in the crown of the Derry International Irish Music Festival 2016 - has served up plenty of heart-melting melancholy since its conception by Glasgow-based Pelicula Films in 1995. Yet the musicians of this enduring cottage industry also deal aplenty in celebratory music that dispels the blues.

Before an enthusiastic audience, the balance between dirge, life-affirming anthems and uplifting romps is finely struck during this memorable evening.

From the opening square dance-cum reel of 'Waiting for the Federals' the shared roots of Scottish, Irish, American, and to a lesser degree, English folk music, are evident, though this has as much to do with the instrumentation as the song selection.

The full array of traditional instruments – minus bodhrán - is on display, while Jerry Douglas’ dobro and slide guitars lend bluegrass twang to the jigs and reels, and shimmering intensity to the ballads. Capercaillie's Karen Matheson, hometown favourite Cara Dillon, and Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops fame, bring contrasting vocal styles to the show.

The soft vibrato of Matheson’s Scottish burr colors the Irish walking song 'Gura Mise tha gu Dubhach'– a lamentable tale of infanticide and fratricide and the fairy lover that sparked the murder – and a lovely Robert Bairns lullaby.

Dillon, on her rendition of Shawn Colvin/John Leventhal's wonderful country tune 'Shotgun Down the Avalanche' and the haunting 'Winding River Roe'– with only the faintest dobro drone for company – illuminates two contrasting yet equally seductive song forms.

The collective voice of the fifteen-musician ensemble is harnessed to full effect on a stirring set of reels and the sound of fiddles, accordion, flute, dobro, pipes and five-piece rhythm section in full flight is irresistible.

The music crosses back over the Atlantic with the arrival of Californian duo Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan, whose flat-picking guitar virtuosity, honey-toned vocal harmonies and wry humour delight the crowd. Shades of Simon and Garfunkel’s chemistry colors 'Honey, Honey', while the Grammy-nominated duo’s exquisite harmonies on the dark-hued 'Snake Eyes' evoke the Everley Brothers - an undoubted influence.

Accordionist Phil Cunningham and Shetland fiddler Aly Bain have been collaborating for thirty years and their nuanced duet on the graceful slow air 'Ciera McCarthy’s Lullaby' once more rejigs the atmosphere inside the Millennium Forum.

The first set closes with the inspirational Rhiannon Giddens, whose story of escaped Afro-American slaves in Civil War-era America – the very slaves from whom she is descended – provides a moment more poignant than any of the music. That said, her powerful performance of the Civil War/slavery tune 'Julie' and her blues'n'gospel reading of an Odetta work song seem to conjure the spirit of Aretha Franklin.

Following the intermission the unexplained apparition of a large genie statue – like a cheesy pantomime prop – commands stage left. The strange figure, however, cannot upstage the music, which follows a similar pattern to the first set; lively instrumentals – part Appalachian, part Celtic - alternate with killing vocal interludes.

Dillon’s duet with Pattengale on Woody Guthrie’s 'Who’s Going to Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?' and the local lass’s turn on 'The Bright Morning Star' are second set highlights.

Slow airs, Gaelic-sung ballads and animated reels rub shoulders, with graveyards and brothels – amongst other things - providing the thematic grist to the mill of the musicians.

The only overtly English tune, rendered by The Milk Carton Kids of course, is Pink Floyd’s 'Wish You Were Here', which is deconstructed and beautifully recast with warm, folksy harmonies that would surely bring a smile to Roger Waters face. The show builds to a suitably rousing climax, with anthemic ensemble chants bleeding into a breathless reel. 

A spontaneous standing ovation demands an encore and the Transatlantic Session musicians oblige with the Ron Davies blues anthem 'It Ain’t Easy' as a belting vocal tribute to David Bowie, who recorded the track on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

Who could ask for more? Well, perhaps if that bizarre genie could grant a wish, then a feature for bassist Danny Thompson, legendary rhythm man for Alexis Korner and Pentangle - and anchor for a who’s who of folk, pop and rock stars these past fifty years - would crown the show.

The seventy six-year old maestro, however, doesn’t step out of the shadows all evening, remaining steadfastly an unassuming yet towering servant of this universal music – like all the Transatlantic Session musicians, past and present.

For forthcoming events and news from Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin and the Derry International Irish Music Festival visit www.culturlann-doire.ie.

Leading music critic and feminist writer Jessica Hopper has been announced as keynote speaker for Women's Work, a series of events in Belfast celebrating the role of women in music and fascilitating discussion around industry issues.

The festival runs from March 4 to 11, with an array of live showcases, workshops and expert talks taking place at various venues in the city. Hopper will speak as part of a day of panel sessions, crafts and more at the Oh Yeah Centre on Sunday, March 6.

One of today’s most important voices in music journalism, she is currently editorial director for Music at MTV, having previously worked as Senior Editor at Pitchfork and the Music Editor at Rookie. Her latest book, The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic, anthologizes the last 15 years of her work.

Hopper’s work has been described as influential by the New York Times and has earned her a reputation as a firebrand, a keen observer and fearless critic not just of music but also the culture around it. Her keynote in 2015 at BigSound Festival in Australia has been widely praised.

Hopper’s Belfast talk will focus on the international conversation around inclusivity in the music industry, what is changing and what that means for everyone involved, as how accessibility and an equal playing field for women is the path to success . The keynote will take place at 3pm and is set to be inspiring and encouraging for any music fan.

The afternoon will also include a panel with award winning music blogger Nialler9, Body & Soul festival booker Jenny Wren and Irish Times writer Tanya Sweeny. Later that day the subject of women in live sound and studio engineering will be up for discussion with Julie McLarnon from Analogue Catalogue studio and Una Monaghan, while Belfast music collective Go Girl and To Be Beautiful feature as part of an evening showcase.

Somewhere between Beatle-mania and Beiber-mania, we’ve lost sight of the capacity young women have to anticipate, sustain and add cultural value to the experience of music. We need everybody to show up for women. - Jessica Hopper, BigSound Festival keynote

Elsewhere, 50-year broadcasting veteran Annie Nightingale will be in conversation and DJing a special launch night party on March 4 and a closing celebration will showcase some of Northern Ireland's brightest young female artists as part of International Women's Day on March 11.

Register free for Jessica Hopper's keynote on March 6 here. For further details and forthcoming updates visit www.womensworkni.com or follow the Oh Yeah Centre on Facebook.

Have you ever seen a woman doing the sound at a gig? Probably not, after all, that is the soundman’s job. Are we to believe, therefore, that women don’t understand sound or that they are incapable of - or disinterested in - such an occupation? Of course not, so why are women so under-represented and so discriminated against in the music world?

For music critic, editor and journalist Jessica Hopper – keynote speaker at the Women’s Work festival - the answer is simple: 'By and large men are still very much holding the reins of power, money and access within the music industry.'

It’s a power that often unleashes misogynistic attitudes, manipulative excesses and, in the worst cases, the sexual harassment and abuse of women. Whilst the high profile cases of R. Kelly and Heathcliff Berru have raised public awareness of the serious issues facing women in the music industry in the USA, the problem is clearly a universal one.

The crux of the matter is one of women’s rights. 'We can distill it down,' says Hopper. 'It’s about women’s right to be there and their right to exist there safely.'

Women in the music industry – fans and professionals alike - repeatedly come up against a wall of prejudice. 'We still have this very old idea that women are somehow interlopers,' says Hopper, 'particularly in rock ‘n’ roll, rap and hip-hop, and the world of studios. We have very prescribed notions of what is acceptable for women in terms of their images, in terms of the messages they present.'

Hopper, from first-hand experience, is all too aware of the ignorance and prejudices that women face in the music industry: 'People assume I don’t know anything about music, even though I might be speaking to their class, even though I might be addressing their entire university, even after I’m introduced as the editorial director for music at MTV, or Senior Editor at Pitchfork. I’m like, huh? Do you think I just lucked into this job?'

In fact, Hopper has been making her way in the music business since the age of fifteen. Now approaching forty, the insights gained during a quarter of a century absorbing popular music and highlighting the inherent gender inequalities are captured in her critically acclaimed book The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic (Featherproof Books, 2015).

In the summer of 2015 Hopper posted a tweet that invited women to share their experiences of the music business. The response was massive, global and often shocking. Thousands of women around the world described suffering verbal and physical abuse, degrading attitudes and condescension at the hands of men.

Another tweet asked what achievement women in the music industry were most proud of. The very fact of surviving in an often hostile and predominantly male environment cropped up again and again as the source of most pride.

Of course, it’s not just women who are discriminated against. 'It’s also queer and transgender, a-gender, non-binary people who are also having these struggles to have their art considered legitimate and worthwhile, to be able to exist freely and create freely,' Hopper expands.

In an interview she conducted with Björk for Pitchfork magazine in 2015, the Icelandic singer urged bravery and solidarity from those women on the receiving end of male prejudice and harrassment: 'You’re a coward if you don’t stand up,' said Björk. 'Not for yourself, but for women. Say something.'

Björk’s words should also resonate with men, for they share the responsibility to stand up against inappropriate behaviour towards women, wherever and whenever it happens.

Has Hopper found significant male allies in the struggle for equality?

'Rather than some guy popping out of the woodwork saying "let me help you fix this", there are a lot of men who very earnestly want to talk about this stuff and say "I’ve seen some of this stuff happen and I feel really powerless to do anything about it."

Powerless or cowardly? Whatever the reason, Hopper also sees men as prisoners of misguided cultural notions. 'I think the line of bullsh*t that men are fed culturally is as potent and as destructive as what women are fed in terms of expectations,' she says. 'If you’re a guy then you’re supposed to be loyal to other guys before anything else, you know?'

Evidently, gender inequality is a global problem, one that is culturally embedded and systematically enforced in many countries.

'It is the root of a lot of problems. A lot of studies have shown, in the developed world and in the developing world, that when you empower women, when you give them meaningful work, when you give them a way to support themselves, or a way to realize their ambitions beyond just raising children, when you give women equity in the world you see really far-reaching effects. And the music business is a tiny microcosm.'

Whilst there is still a long way to go Hopper is in no doubt that the feminist struggle is in a better place than it was when she started out on her career twenty five years ago.

'Oh gosh yes, absolutely. Even in our wildest dreams at the height of riot grrrl in 1992, I don’t think any of us thought that we could ever have an ongoing public conversation about sexual assault. There is inclusion and diversity,' she adds. 'It’s a world of difference from even ten years ago.'

Yet that said, a gig can still be an intimidating environment for young women, with groping and aggressive moshing examples of the sort of male behaviours that alienate and threaten.

Shortly after her Belfast appearance Hopper will address the topic of inclusivity in music to an audience at the South by South West Festival, in Austin, Texas. 'Punk, rock or rock ‘n’ roll and all these spaces can be inclusive,' she says, 'and I really think that is the route to change.'

She also talks animatedly about the legitimacy of teenage girl pop fans – economically, the most important segment of the music-consuming public. 'We’ve done a lot of the things to take care of ourselves and nurture our own community, and to show young women that there is value in who and how they are and what they want to express in music.'

Where exactly Hopper’s talk will lead the Belfast audience – or vice-versa – only time will tell, but it’s a safe bet that her words will strike a chord with many, male and female alike.

'The only thing I ever really aim for is that people hear a truth that either challenges them or that they can relate to. All I can really speak about is my understanding of the world and I think oftentimes my perspective is not an uncommon one for women who are making music.'

Culture NI spoke with Jessica ahead of her keynote at the Women's Work festival on Sunday, March 6 at the Oh Yeah Music Centre, Belfast, and as part of #CreativityMonth 2016 - a celebration of creativity and the creative industries in Northern Ireland. To view the full programme of events running throughout March visit www.creativityni.org/events. Find out more about Women's Work and register for tickets at www.womensworkni.com.

Belfast multi-instrumentalist Jackie McAuley has had one of the most dizzyingly varied careers of any Northern Irish rock musician. On the cutting edge of the British blues boom in the mid-60s as keyboard player with the Van Morrison-fronted Them, by the late '60s McAuley was playing with psychedelic-folk cult band Trader Horne.

He later recorded a classic, self-titled singer-songwriter album, became Lonnie Donegan’s long-term guitarist and musical director, wrote a hit single for Status Quo ('Dear John'), led the popular Celtic-rock band Poor Mouth and, now in his late 60s, he remains creatively active with his own band.

Perhaps the only constant in McAuley’s career up until the present has been his determination to always push on to another project, another style, another artistic challenge and never to look back. This year however he at last caught the nostalgia bug, releasing the album Them Good Old Songs, on which he revisits the songs he played with Them as a teenager.

'I hadn’t heard those songs for fifty years,' he says. 'Them really haunted me and I wanted to get away from it and to get on with my own life so I never played any Them stuff. I was in denial.'

It was a reunion with Them guitarist Billy Harrison that led McAuley to re-evaluate his musical past. 'Meeting Billy was great,' he says. 'It was all hugs and stuff and we were almost in tears and we were talking for hours about the old days.'

Listening to the Them material again was a revelation for McAuley. 'Van wrote those songs like ‘I Like It Like That’ when he was seventeen or eighteen,' he marvels. 'They’re little gems but they’ve hardly been done by anybody else since - Energy Orchard did do 'One Two Brown Eyes' but it was bloody awful!'

'Van was magnificent. Even before I joined the band I was at a couple of parties with him and we sat playing guitar together and to hear that voice from three feet away was just brilliant. He was just a wee skinny fellow then but he had a massive voice, a perfect, soulful voice.'

McAuley can now, after his decades in denial, concede that touring with a band that had charted with 'Baby Please Don’t Go' and 'Here Comes The Night' was exciting. 'It was,' he agrees. 'I was seventeen when I joined the band and we had girls chasing us all over the place.'

And he can now chuckle about the notoriously mismanaged band’s adventures and misadventures. One such occurred at the New Musical Express (NME) Poll-Winners Concert at Wembley Empire Pool in 1965, where the band played alongside the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Kinks, Donovan, Dusty Springfield and others.

'I remember it very well,' laughs McAuley. 'We arrived in this crappy wee Ford Thames van because our manager wouldn’t give us the money – the money we were in fact owed – to get a decent van and there’s all the rest of the bands with their limousines and coaches!

'And you only had a few minutes to set up. A team of guys with white coats went on and lifted all the gear off [from the previous band] and lifted the new band’s gear on. And they just put the gear up anywhere! Van was standing on one side of the stage, my brother Pat was behind him on drums, which weren’t secured, and the rest of the band was on the other side of the stage.'

Viewable in the above video (skip to one hour, eight minutes), Them’s performance is exciting – but nobody could accuse them of being polished. 'On 'Turn On Your Lovelight' my brother’s drums are falling all over the stage. And Van made a mistake on 'Here Comes The Night' and came in too early,' recalls McAuley.

Them’s reputation has been undermined by accusations that their records were actually made by session men. In particular it is widely believed that future Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page played the immortal lead guitar on 'Baby Please Don’t Go'.

In fact, in his liner notes for the recently released anthology The Complete Them 1964 - 1967 Van Morrison confirms that the band’s Billy Harrison played lead while Page 'tuned his guitar down until it sounded like a bass … then he put another part on, behind the vocal, while I was singing in the quiet section.'

'What Jimmy Page played was totally unnecessary,' adds McAuley. 'I could show you the part he played and it’s nothing to talk about.'

But although Harrison played guitar McAuley doesn’t deny that other session men were used on the tracks that appeared on the 1965 Angry Young Them album and on early singles.

'When I joined the band we needed a B-side for 'Here Comes The Night' so we went into the studio to do 'All For Myself'. And I thought, "Who are these f***ing guys?" I was told to play the piano while someone else played my organ. Piano’s not even on the track!

'But all the people brought in weren’t necessary. Why was Them there in the first place? Because they were going down a bomb live – so they must have been all right. Why would they all of a sudden need session musicians? It was a divide and conquer tactic by the manager.'

McAuley has revisited another aspect of his past recently for, extraordinarily, Trader Horne, his duo with ex-Fairport Convention singer Judy Dyble. After forty five years apart, the two reformed in November for a one-off gig in London.

The performance was to celebrate the reissue of their 1970 album Morning Way, an album which is now regarded as a cult classic. 'It was strange,' says McAuley of the gig, which was given a four star review in The Times. 'At first I thought, "I’m not going to remember the words, we’re not going to get it together, we’ll all look stupid." But I was amazed how well it went and how good everything sounded.'

McAuley played guitar, celeste, harpsichord, organ, piano, flute and congas and sang on Morning Way. At the reunion gig he and Dyble were backed by a septet and McAuley only played acoustic guitar and sang.

'On the album we were under pressure for time because I was playing everything myself so I thought at the gig, with the full band, the stuff sounded far better than on the album,' he says. 'And it went down very well. I was delighted.'

The band’s original split had been frustrating. 'She didn’t tell me, she didn’t tell anyone, she just vanished,' recalls McAuley of Dyble’s departure. In retrospect he recognises that life on the road had taken its toll.

'It was very, very tough. We were travelling all over. The funny thing is because I was driving life was a bit easier for me. To go hundreds of miles just sitting in the front, looking out the window, like Judy did, is more stressful than driving.

'We also had worries about the car. And we did have a bad breakdown once and the two of us had to leave absolutely everything in the car – the guitars, her autoharp, everything – and walk about a mile through the snow. I went back the next day and the car was still there and everything was still in it. But it was stressful and it got a bit much for her. I put it down to bad management. They should have said, "You guys need a break."'

Their relationship long since repaired, McAuley enthuses about Dyble’s singing. ‘She has a fabulous ear for instant harmonies,’ he says. 'I could sing something to her once and she will just automatically harmonise with it. She’s just a very good singer.'

Them Good Old Songs by Jackie McAuley and the Regular Gas Band is out now on iTunes and in selected music retailers throughout Northern Ireland. Trader Horne’s Morning Way reissue is available from Earth Recordings. McAuley is also currently seeking a publisher for his autobiography.

The Open House Festival Choir made its first appearance last summer as a highlight of the eclectic programme of arts and culture taking place each year in beautiful, often unusual venues throughout Bangor.

Led by local musician, composer and facilitator, Katie Richardson, the choir has gone from strength to strength, with a sold out performance at Christmas and what are likely to be two more this weekend – at the seaside town's Queen's Parade Church on Friday and the Black Box, Belfast on Saturday (April 1 and 2). The reception has been as much of a surprise to Richardson as to anyone else.

'The idea was to do something different with the choir, bringing a mixture of contemporary music and the type of music the Open House Festival would present,' she says. 'It was only meant to be a summer thing and we just kept going. Last summer was a magical experience; everyone really clicked and we knew we had to continue with it.'

Over the last year, the choir has grown from thirty to seventy members. The group has met for rehearsals every term and it has become something of a tradition for them to culminate with a performance of some sort, including one capped off at Culture Night last September.

The type of music they perform ranges from rock and folk to pop, and at times diverging to even more varied styles. 'It’s this balance of making lots of great content and providing an excellent product,' explains Richardson. 'The choir brings a wonderful sound that really can’t be compared to.'

There is no denying the commitment and professionalism that is behind the choir and what makes it unique is the community, space and authenticity it is creating, particularly among budding singers. As Katie explains, 'the ethos of the choir is building confidence in people because there is this feeling from individuals that "I’m not a singer", "I can’t sing" or "I couldn’t possibly sing a solo"... You can’t underestimate the importance of creating a space to build confidence and a community.'

'There are also so many studies on how singing improves mental health,' she adds, 'and, looking at the surveys we have done within the choir, it has really meant a lot to people. I get a lot out of it myself – it is a real confidence booster, fun and a great stress reliever.'

Looking ahead to this weekend's events, Richardson is brimming with excitement at the prospect of sharing the group's new renditions of Open House Festival favourites and past performers from throughout its 18 year history.

'We will be singing songs from everyone; from Ryan Adams, Talking Heads to David Bowie. We will also be joined by local musicians: Phil Dalton, Herb Magee and George Sloane, as well as Gill Landry, a well-known musician who is joining us from the States.'

Landry, formerly of Nashville bluegrass/string band Old Crow Medicine Show, is in fact flying into Northern Ireland especially to accompany the choir. 'This type of performance is important because music is important,' he says. 'It brings people together to celebrate life and song… I’m really looking forward to the choir treatment to my songs.'

There are still limited tickets remaining for the Open House Festival Choir at Queen's Parade Church, Bangor on April 1 and the Black Box, Belfast on April 2. To book visit www.openhousefestival.com. For those interested in joining the choir the next intake begins in June.

When Beatles fans realized in 1980, after John Lennon died, that they could never again see the Fab Four perform together, it was traumatic. Or as George Harrison drily put it, 'The Beatles won’t get back together while John Lennon remains dead.' 

Having been a fan from the age of five when my mother bought me my first EP, She Loves You, I shared the trama. But tonight at the SSE Arena in Belfast, a privileged few thousand of us have the chance to enjoy the next best thing. Namely Geoff Emerick’s evocation of the famous Abbey Road sessions from the early sixties sessions to the last note in 1969 in a Stufish set replicating the famous London recording studio.

The Sessions is part-gig, part-dramatization of real events and gags – including Paul McCartney prefacing 'Helter Skelter' with 'Pete Townshend, eat your heart out' – and of course, the most sublime pop music ever written.

We see two incarnations of each Beatle – apart from Ringo, whose single drum solo outing we hear in the closing Abbey Road album medley. Although some of us sing ourselves hoarse, this is no tribute act performing karaoke renditions. This is something more substantial.

Serving as onstage narrator is George Martin, the recording manager oft-dubbed the 'Fifth Beatle', who died only last month and is credited with co-creating the group's sound.

The studio is suggested by a giant cube onstage. Sometimes we witness the boys, plus a handy collection of classical musicians, unobstructed, sometimes behind a diaphanous fourth wall onto which facts, quotes and period images are projected.

It makes for a genuinely spectacular audio-visual experience. How could you fail when the Lennon-McCartney catalogue was, and is, so superb? The hits just keep on coming and from 'Please, Please Me' onwards, a high percentage chart number ones.

What impresses the most is the almost infinite variety of musical styles showcased, not to mention the equally immeasurable range of takes on the perennial subject under discussion; love.

The up-to-date technology lends the early material in particular a freshness that would suggest it was written and recorded yesterday. In 'Nowhere Man', for example, the vocals are cleverly separated to demonstrate what a great close harmony group The Beatles were.

We also get the serious stuff, i.e. the musical evolution. As the sixties put on Carnaby Street gear and becomes truly psychedelic, man, the shift is reflected in the monochrome staging which floods with vivid colour. One day amidst it George buys a sitar in Oxford Street and performs the riff for 'Norwegian Wood'.

The Sgt. Pepper section is thrillingly played as if at a live concert, climaxing in 'A Day in the Life'. And although the Beatles' sound was unique, here and there you catch echoes of other people. Dylan, say, in 'You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away'– as the great man said to them once, 'I get it, you don’t want to be cute anymore'.

The George Martin figure subtly cedes the stage and creative control to the band to cleverly illustrate the metamorphasis from moptops to mature artists.

In production terms, it is outstanding with 'Yellow Submarine' producing a sort of hokey cokey at the end of part one and The Egg Man delivering an almost Alice in Wonderland image, taken from the Magical Mystery Tour film, with actors chugging around in a white sheet to 'I Am The Walrus'.

Director Kim Gavin does a great job. Fifty-four years on, the Fab Four’s sound still gets you boogying. It’s uplifting in the truest sense and the audience is on its feet for a glorious encore, 'Hey, Jude'. It's maybe the nearest thing we have to the sound of human happiness.

The Sessions continues its tour of arenas across Europe all this month and next. For more information visit www.thesessionslive.com. For upcoming events at the SSE Arena, Belfast go to www.ssearenabelfast.com.

How did Sylvier come about?

Sylvier started during my first year at North West Regional College, where I am currently studying Music Production. Having access to the college’s studios, I began recording some material I had written prior to the course. During this time a tutor, Liam Craig, caught wind of one of the songs and offered to produce my EP.

I remember during our first conversation thinking how easy he was to talk to. We were totally on the same page in terms of production style, which also helped a lot. Liam eventually introduced me to [video director/photographer and manager] Paul Brown and we’ve been working together since. My first impression of Paul was "Wow, this guy is motivated" and "Wow this guy drinks way too much coffee!"

You recently released your debut single 'Hard To Find'. How does it feel to have your music out for everyone and anyone to hear?

Releasing 'Hard to Find' was surreal. I love music so much and it plays a massive role in my life. It is an outlet for me in so many ways. When I listen to James Vincent McMorrow or The National for example, I feel their music captures something really specific to me. I feel a real personal attachment to a piece of music created by someone I’ve never met. That is an incredible power that music has.

As a songwriter, I never quite felt what I had written was ready for anything major – which can be a good thing. It pushed me to improve and kept that strive to develop alive. However it can also kick you in the ass. It makes you wonder whether or not you’ll ever write anything decent.

'Hard to Find' was the first song I wrote that I felt really good about. What’s funny is that you could write a hundred songs and there might only be a couple that you feel are good enough to release. With those songs you are buzzing. It’s such a great feeling! Eventually you have to ask yourself "what is the next step?" and you begin a completely different journey. So yeah, actually getting to the point of release was definitely surreal.

With everything that’s happened so far; your launch, debut single et cetera, we imagine it's been pretty exciting so far? 

It’s been pretty exciting and so much more. As I said, releasing the single was surreal, it was only when we launched it did everything become real. Before coming to NWRC I was always writing on my own, which can become quite restricting and frustrating. I was only able to imagine what my songs could sound like; production being a key aspect – I wanted them to be big productions. I now have a band of extremely talented musicians who really bring my songs to life like I imagined. I feel privileged to be on stage alongside them all.

How did you find that transition from writing and playing alone to having the support around you that you do now?

I was always singing and improvising melodies, even as a kid. It wasn’t until I was about sixteen that I started to take songwriting seriously, that’s when I decided to learn guitar. It was then that I started gigging in a cover band, playing in pubs and bars on the weekends. Having done this for so long, it provided me with opportunities to practice performing and work on my stage presence, so becoming Sylvier seemed like a natural progression.

About half way through my first year at NWRC I started working with another tutor called Dominic O’Callaghan who specializes in songwriting. It’s been a new experience working with another writer, especially one who is very much a part of the music for the forthcoming EP.

Having management is brilliant! Although Paul and I together discuss ideas for video content and photo shoots, having him taking care of the PR, A&R and gig bookings, allows me to focus fully on the music, which is fantastic.

Who would be your biggest influences?

I’d say my biggest influences to date would be Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams. The first time I heard Justified I fell head over heels. The fabric of that album, the decisions made in its production are all reasons why I became a songwriter.

Jack White is another, he is gritty and innovative, and his vocals are always really unique and so damn sexy! I remember when 'Seven Nation Army' came out, what really spoke to me was the attitude displayed from start to finish.

Sylvier is quite an interesting name. What made you decide to have a stage persona?

I wanted a stage name that fitted the style of music, which I felt my name didn’t do at all. A stage persona for me is having a platform to express a side of myself that can’t always be seen – although it’s always there. It’s the same side of me that writes the music.

I love being on stage so much but I also love finishing a set and meeting the people that come to the gig. It’s such great craic! You meet so many new people and learn so much about what they are listening to, what music is for them and how they felt about your set.

You've talked about studying at the North West Regional College. What you attracted you to its Music Production course and how has it impacted Sylvier?

I wanted to study Music Production as I felt this was the next step for me in developing my style. I strongly feel that the production of a song can be as significant as the song itself. It can enhance it’s impact when done right. I only ever write with the end product in mind so I always knew I was going down the pop/RnB road.

I chose to study at NWRC because I knew a few people who did previously and are now working in the industry, doing really well. The music courses there focus on popular music styles so it was an all rounder for me. Having nearly completed the course I can say without a doubt that it was the right move. I have learned so much and it’s been the most enjoyable experience. Working with Liam in particular is like the best of both worlds, I get to work with an incredible producer and learn so much in the process.

And what about the rest of your team?

Working with a team is a real first for me. I was quite timid in the beginning, I think. I have played in bands and worked with other musicians before, however I have never had a producer or a manager or another songwriter working with me, or even an original band.

I find it funny in the beginning, when you don’t really know what someone’s sense of humor is like or whether you can be blunt or not. I live for those moments when you just throw something out there and you wait with anticipation to see how it lands.

Liam, Paul and Dominic are so down to earth and extremely easy to work with. I can enjoy the experience the way I always wanted to. I can also say that the level of professionalism from the team means we take every stage of the process seriously and strive to do our best in every aspect. I believe you can only really relax and have fun when you know you’re working with people that you trust who are passionate and hard working.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan to gig as much as possible; I definitely want to play a few festivals this year. We want to get a lot of video content up of various live recordings as well as to just keep writing and recording!

Sylvier's debut single 'Hard to Find' is available now to purchase on iTunes and stream on Spotify. See her perform live at Sandino's Bar, Derry~Londonderry on Friday, April 8. For more news and updates visit www.sylvier.com.

May 8, 8pm

Festival Marquee, Belfast

DJ Grandmaster Flash and his group the Furious Five were hip-hop’s greatest innovators, transcending the genre’s party-music origins to explore the full scope of its lyrical and sonic horizons.

He developed a series of ground-breaking techniques including “cutting” (moving between tracks exactly on the beat), 'back-spinning' (manually turning records to repeat brief snippets of sound), and 'phasing' (manipulating turntable speeds) — in short, creating the basic vocabulary which DJs continue to follow even today.

Full programme at www.cqaf.com.

So, welcome to this week's worst kept secret. The announcement that the tribute band 'Tudor Cinema Club' would be playing some of Ireland's most well-trodden gig venues this week fooled a few people at first (ahem…) before pennies eventually dropped that there was more to it than that.

Reviews of Sunday night's show in Galway confirmed the inevitable, and following a second gig in Dublin, it was on to Belfast to complete the mini-tour with the band's first hometown performance since Belsonic in August 2012. In fact, this week has marked the Bangor trio's first live shows anywhere since they played London's O2 Arena in December 2013 – nearly two-and-a-half years ago.

By the way, kudos to them in a) the self-deprecating way that they chose to come back, knowing that reaction at home would be along the lines of 'there’s a Two Door tribute band?! really?!' and b) keeping ticket prices so low. A world-class band for £6 is nothing to be sniffed at.

You wouldn’t know they had been away for so long. Alex Trimble may have grown his hair to somewhere past his ears and further cultivated that bizarre American twang (G-Mac will breathe a sigh of relief when he hears it) but otherwise it's business as usual, as Trimble, Sam Halliday and Kevin Baird (and two sidemen, including their phenomenal cyborg of a drummer) lock in together, as tight and powerful as ever. It's a joy to hear those guitar fireworks and effervescent choruses as loud as this again. The time away has not dulled their shine.

As you might expect, there's a valedictory air to proceedings. Although the band recently tweeted that their third album is finished, precisely no new songs are aired. The closest we get is 2013's one-off single 'Changing Of The Seasons', which sounds much improved in its live incarnation – a touch slower, stripped of Madeon's tacky production and adorned with a lovely croon and Alex Turner-esque swagger from Trimble. Gone is the frail boy of a few years ago – these days Trimble is a confident, cocksure showman, and all the better for it.

Otherwise the hits come thick and fast – 'Sleep Alone', a punchy 'Undercover Martyn', 'This Is The Life' with Alex appearing to whoop with joy at being back on stage, 'I Can Talk', a chiming 'Something Good Can Work'. Halfway through, 'Come Back Home' is triumphant, Sam grinning with delight as his fingers dance around the fretboard, peeling off those needling riffs.

At the song's close, Alex declares that 'it feels f**king great to be back in Belfast, finally' before pausing for a bashful hello to the band's mums in the crowd.

It's a perfectly chosen moment made all the more resonant when followed up with 'Sun', a song about heartache and homesickness, with that lovely line about hearing 'distant drumlins'– a nod to their County Down upbringing. As if to emphasise the point (if not labour it), Alex follows it up by toasting the Belfast crowd with a pint of Guinness. 

As the 75-minute set gallops towards its climax, the Two Door formula, which barely changed between the first two albums, does begin to wear a bit thin – you'd hope that album number three will put that right and see them move their sound on a bit further.

But tonight, and this week of not-so-secret shows, isn't about musical progression. It's about a band getting back to what they are best at and making a genuine reconnection with their fans. They've done that admirably.

A raft of emerging and established Northern Irish musicians will come together on Friday, April 22 at Bennigan’s Bar, Derry~Londonderry to mark the centenary of the birth of renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin.

The event is being held to raise awareness of Live Music Now, the charity established by Menuhin in 1977 to realise his vision of bringing hope and healing through music while supporting the professional development of young musicians. David Lyttle, Gerard McChrystal and Lorna Henry are just some of the musicians who have come through the Live Music Now scheme.

The showcase is just one of the events in the Northern Ireland-wide Creative Centenaries programme, led by Nerve Centre and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Event host John Leighton, a former musician on the Live Music Now scheme and owner of Bennigan's, said: 'Live Music Now gave me a fantastic alternative to what I thought were my only career options as a young professional musician. Through the scheme I got to take part in specialist training and mentoring which was vital for my professional confidence. I also got to play for hundreds of people in care homes, day centres, hospices and community centres across Northern Ireland, which was a real privilege and learning experience.

'I’m delighted to host this event to give something back to the charity and also showcase some of our finest musicians with the hope of encouraging the next generation of Live Music Now talent. I would encourage everyone, particularly aspiring musicians, to come along and have a great night out for a great cause.'

The showcase will feature a range of musical styles, from jazz to pop, classical to traditional. Musicians taking part include Louis McTeggart, Voice and Verse, the John Leighton Trio, the Victoria Geelan Trio and Peter McAuley (Rams Pocket Radio).

Niall Kerr, Creative Centenaries Project Co-ordinator at Nerve Centre, said: 'Creative Centenaries aims to shine a light on the work of the creative and cultural sector in commemorating the events of 100 years ago.

'This fantastic event from Live Music Now is just one of hundreds of engaging and thought-provoking events being produced across Northern Ireland that we are delighted to be partnered with.'

Doors open 9pm on the night with a cover charge of £5. Raffles will be held throughout the evening. All proceeds will go directly to support the work of Live Music Now in Northern Ireland.

For more information visit www.livemusicnow.org.uk. See more events taking place as part of the Creative Centenaries programme at www.creativecentenaries.org/calendar.

Saturday, May 7, 8pm

Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Marquee, Belfast

Grammy-winning reggae icon Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry is one of the most important figures in the history of reggae music. As an artist, songwriter, innovator, performer, creator and especially a producer, Perry has been at the forefront of reggae music since the late '50s ska movement.

Cited by many as the inventor of dub reggae and the 'scratch' turntable effect since used by DJ’s everywhere. He was also a seminal influence on the works of Bob Marley and shaped the machinery that became his celebrated sound.

Perry’s studio innovations made him such a sought after producer that he influenced not only reggae but also rock, punk, pop and dance music, having collaborated with such icons as The Clash, Junior Murvin and the Beastie Boys. Now back and with his unique sound stylings burning as brightly as ever, get ready and tighten up for one of biggest nights of the year.

I recently released an album in which two rock icons are the subjects of songs – Elvis Presley and Portstewart’s Henry McCullough. I first saw Henry perform at the Whitla Hall, Belfast in 1968, where with Eire Apparent, he shared the bill with Jimi Hendrix. A year later, and 'Henry's Guitar' would have it, he was 'the one and only Irish guitar hero to grace the hallowed stage at old Woodstock', as part of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band.

McCullough was highly rated by rock's elite and in 1971 Paul McCartney invited him to join Wings, with his solo on 'My Love' is regarded as a one of the genre's finest. 'He could make that Gibson guitar cry,' I wrote in tribute, 'and If you listen up to songs like 'My Love'/You’ll hear how Henry made Wings truly fly.'

There came a parting of the ways with McCartney and during a Q&A following a gig I attended in Holywood, many years later, Henry was asked whether it was true that he had told Paul to 'piss off'. Henry replied that this report was inaccurate; he had in fact requested that the great man 'eff off'! Thankfully there was to be a reconciliation with the ex-Beatle.

I saw Henry play many times with his superb live band featuring Donegal’s pedal steel maestro, Percy Robinson, who plays on Seeking The Assassin and whose brother Billy brilliantly produced the album. I am also sure Henry would have approved of the melodic lead lines on 'Henry’s Guitar', courtesy of the multi-talented Peadar Coll.

Last October I walked the Camino de Santiago with Billy Robinson and we spoke fondly of Henry, who had tragically suffered a major heart attack in 2012, which has left him in a critical condition.

Somewhere along the way lyrics began to come to me: 'Henry’s guitar’s silent in the corner / If only we could sing him back somehow /Gather round me now all ye failed Christians/ And pray away the trouble from his brow'. And a tribute to a wonderful musician was born.

Seeking The Assassin by Sam R Gibson is available now to purchase at www.samrgibson.com.

Leading music critic and feminist writer Jessica Hopper has been announced as keynote speaker for Women's Work, a series of events in Belfast celebrating the role of women in music and fascilitating discussion around industry issues.

The festival runs from March 4 to 11, with an array of live showcases, workshops and expert talks taking place at various venues in the city. Hopper will speak as part of a day of panel sessions, crafts and more at the Oh Yeah Centre on Sunday, March 6.

One of today’s most important voices in music journalism, she is currently editorial director for Music at MTV, having previously worked as Senior Editor at Pitchfork and the Music Editor at Rookie. Her latest book, The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic, anthologizes the last 15 years of her work.

Hopper’s work has been described as influential by the New York Times and has earned her a reputation as a firebrand, a keen observer and fearless critic not just of music but also the culture around it. Her keynote in 2015 at BigSound Festival in Australia has been widely praised.

Hopper’s Belfast talk will focus on the international conversation around inclusivity in the music industry, what is changing and what that means for everyone involved, as how accessibility and an equal playing field for women is the path to success . The keynote will take place at 3pm and is set to be inspiring and encouraging for any music fan.

The afternoon will also include a panel with award winning music blogger Nialler9, Body & Soul festival booker Jenny Wren and Irish Times writer Tanya Sweeny. Later that day the subject of women in live sound and studio engineering will be up for discussion with Julie McLarnon from Analogue Catalogue studio and Una Monaghan, while Belfast music collective Go Girl and To Be Beautiful feature as part of an evening showcase.

Somewhere between Beatle-mania and Beiber-mania, we’ve lost sight of the capacity young women have to anticipate, sustain and add cultural value to the experience of music. We need everybody to show up for women. - Jessica Hopper, BigSound Festival keynote

Elsewhere, 50-year broadcasting veteran Annie Nightingale will be in conversation and DJing a special launch night party on March 4 and a closing celebration will showcase some of Northern Ireland's brightest young female artists as part of International Women's Day on March 11.

Register free for Jessica Hopper's keynote on March 6 here. For further details and forthcoming updates visit www.womensworkni.com or follow the Oh Yeah Centre on Facebook.

The tragedy of Terry Reid’s career is that he is better known for what he didn’t do than for what he did do. And, as any learned rock lover will know, what he didn’t do was join Led Zeppelin in 1968 when invited to do so by Jimmy Page, who was then forming the band.

The job went instead to Robert Plant, of course. But Plant’s much-quoted comment that Reid ‘should have had my life’ feels rather patronising, for Reid has had a long and distinguished career, releasing several admired albums produced by the likes of Mickie Most and Graham Nash.

‘Yeah, it is a bit patronising,’ he laughs. ‘But I see Robert quite a lot and sometimes he’s sounded like he really wanted my life!’

Reid feels that his voice is better now than in the mid-60s when he joined Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers and his talents first became recognised. ‘Different things influence you as you get older,’ he reflects. ‘And your singing settles. It was always too frenetic in the beginning. You can utilise your voice a lot better when you get older.’

Astonishingly, Reid was only fifteen when he joined the Jaywalkers, who almost immediately set off on tour supporting the Rolling Stones. ‘It was manic,’ he reminisces. ‘There was a riot at the Albert Hall the first night and all you could see was a seething mass of women and a guitar neck sticking out of the top of it.

‘And I remember we did Glasgow Odeon and there were three thousand people outside and three thousand inside and when they let the three thousand out it was vicious. The police brought in dogs and it got real nasty.’

Reid has maintained a relationship with Keith Richards. ‘A few years ago I was playing a club in L.A. and in rolls Keith and says, “Hey, guys, let’s play,”’ he recalls. ‘Afterwards we’re standing around talking and of course we’re, “Remember that night when we …?” My memories of that tour are very sharp but Keith remembered all sorts of things that even I didn’t. He’s real good at remembering.

‘And he’s an absolute sweetheart and funny as hell. He [doesn’t] seem any different now to when I first met him.’

Also on the bill on that Stones tour were Ike and Tina Turner. ‘I can never forget it,’ smiles Reid. ‘They were tremendous. After they played everybody looked out of breath whether they’d been on stage or not!

‘And we were all on the tour bus together and I vividly remember nights when Tina would sing and it was deafening. Gosh, my eyes were watering.’

After Reid went solo he supported the legendary supergroup Cream – Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker – on their farewell tour of America in 1968. ‘They were playing amazing,’ he says, ‘but they’d had enough of it. The marriage was over, you might say, and they didn’t really talk to each other. After the gig they’d go back to their own hotels and they didn’t interact at all.

‘But Ginger Baker was very funny. Some nights you’d wonder, “Is he mad or is he just putting me on?” And you sort of didn’t want to find out!’

Reid’s first album, Bang Bang You’re Terry Reid (1968), was produced by Mickie Most, who had been responsible for hits by the Animals, Lulu, Herman’s Hermits and Donovan. ‘He was like “Take 1 … Take 2 … Next song!”’ says Reid. ‘It was basically us live in the studio. But what went wrong with me and Mickie was more the second album [Terry Reid, 1969]. 

'I went to France for these gigs and he said, “Don’t worry, we’ll mix it when you get back.” I get back and he’s mixed it and shipped it and sent me a copy! That didn’t go down well and there was a bit of a ruck and he said, “You’ll never work again.” So for a year or two I couldn’t make an album.’

Reid toured the States in 1969, again supporting the Rolling Stones, but luckily missed the free gig that ended the tour, the dystopian Altamont Festival, where the Hell’s Angels were famously hired to provide security and murder ensued. ‘[Promoter] Bill Graham was organising it and me and Keith were sitting with him and he said, “I’ll give the Angels a bunch of drugs and booze.”

‘“Oh sh*t,” I thought. “This is starting to sound a little hairy.”

‘Anyway, Keith said to me, “It’s a free gig. You can go or not go.” We were all worn out and I said, “I’d rather go home.”’

Reid did however play the record-setting Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. ‘You could see people for miles in all directions,’ he says. ‘With that many people, when you get into a song and dig in emotionally the whole audience will erupt. I swear, it makes your hair stand on end.’

The following year Reid played one of his strangest gigs when he was hired to be the entertainment at the wedding of Mick Jagger and Bianca Macias in front of an audience of rock superstars.

‘They were all out of their minds,’ he guffaws. ‘I’ve never seen such a bunch of drug reprobates. It was out of control. And everybody said, “Let’s get up and play!” but everybody was way too wasted to get anything solid together. They should have definitely stayed sitting down!’

Reid signed for the legendary Ahmet Ertegun’s Atlantic Records and his 1973 album The River is often compared to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks. But Ertegun was dissatisfied with the album. ‘He said, “It’s not exactly what I thought,”’ recalls Reid. ‘He thought it was going to be rock and roll and it turned out to be an R'n'B record.’

The album only sold modestly as did its follow-up, the Graham Nash-produced Seeds Of Memory in 1976. ‘That was the most fun I’ve had,’ enthuses Reid. ‘Graham’s a really good friend. He’s a very sincere person and a true mentor to me. If I can’t figure something out I can always ask Graham.’

Rogue Waves in 1979 was, surprisingly, a much harder rock album. ‘I wanted to do something completely different and it was nice winding all the amps up in the studio,’ he admits. Even more surprisingly 1991’s The Driver, his last studio album to date, produced by the vogueish Trevor Horn of Frankie Goes To Hollywood fame. ‘It didn’t work too well,’ Reid acknowledges.

Despite poor album sales he continued to gig, however. In the '90s, for example, he toured extensively with former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor, with whom he’s still friendly.

‘He’s a laugh,’ he chuckles. ‘He comes to gigs and he’ll say, “I just want to watch,” and next thing I’ll be playing and I’ll feel there’s someone beside me and he’s standing there going, “Give me a guitar, let’s have a play.” He does that all the time. But he’s one of the definitive English blues guitar players and I love playing with him.’

Reid is playing solo at his upcoming Belfast gig. ‘I love that because you’re totally free,’ he says. ‘You can talk to people more and you’re not rushed and I do songs I wouldn’t normally do. Somebody will say something from the audience and sometimes I just do it. I might stumble if I haven’t played it for thirty years, but it’s a challenge.’

Terry Reid plays the Black Box, Belfast, as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival on May 4. Tickets are still available to book via www.cqaf.com/2016/terry-reid or by calling 028 90 246 609.

Rod Argent and Chris White must be the most overlooked classic pop writing team of the '60s. Not only were they responsible for the imperishable 'She's Not There', but also much of that great mispelled classic, Odessey and Oracle, the album on which the Zombies reputation now rests. Its rediscovery has renewed interest in the band and sparked a series of reunion tours.

It was, of course, their great good fortune to hook-up with one of British pop's great voices in Colin Blunstone, creating a sound which merged Beatle-like pop sophistication with a particularly English melancholy.

Though without Chris White on bass these days, replaced by old mucker and co-founder of Argent's eponymous band, Jim Rodford, this is absurdly, the Zombies' Belfast debut. And there is an agreeably garagey feel to their opening tracks as well as the look of the band, dressed moodily in beat black, as they switch between early classics like 'Tell Her No', to songs from latest album Still Got That Hunger.

They largely circumvent the dreaded curse of new material through sheer energy, and particularly Colin Blunstone's voice, with 'Maybe Tomorrow' – the pick of the new bunch. It prompts an 'aw shucks' anecdote where Paul McCartney saved the day by allowing them to use the last line of 'Yesterday', avoiding Sony's threat to can the new album. Nestling as we speak in the American Billboard 100, as Argent delightedly tells us.

The inevitable selection from Odessey and Oracle only adds to the mystery of why that album languished in relative obscurity for so long, before being championed by the likes of Paul Weller and more recently Dave Grohl. Imagine a record in which all the songs are as good as 'Penny Lane'.

As Rod debates whether to play four or five tracks a female crowd member cries out 'play the whole thing!' Album closer 'Time of the Season' is living proof of what a well placed handclap can do to a pop songs fortunes, on this occasion bringing the audience to their feet, as it has so many times before.

As well as Zombies material there has been a resurgence of interest in Argent and Blunstone's early '70s work, especially the latter's classic full-length debut One Year. Produced by Argent and White, it has gradually been subsumed into the Zombies' back catalogue, but its smoky charm, set against the multicoloured pallet of Odessey, defines the difference between '60s and '70s pop.

The breathy 'Caroline Goodbye' is followed by a marvellously stomping glam version of 'Say You Don't Mind' with closing high note confidently achieved. Argent then gets to play his titular group's biggest hit 'Hold Your Head Up', propelling us to galumphing prog rock heaven.

There is nothing left to do but send us home happy with a blistering 'She's Not There', Tom Toomey's frenetic soloing a nod to Santana's guitar-heavy rendition. But it's the encore where the yin and yang of Argent and Bluntstone truly combine to unlock a new entity, greater than the sum of their parts, as well as the advertised whole. Zargent, perhaps? A classic.

The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival continues until May 8 with over 100 events in and around Belfast still to come. For full programme details and ticket booking visit www.cqaf.com.

Have you ever seen a woman doing the sound at a gig? Probably not, after all, that is the soundman’s job. Are we to believe, therefore, that women don’t understand sound or that they are incapable of - or disinterested in - such an occupation? Of course not, so why are women so under-represented and so discriminated against in the music world?

For music critic, editor and journalist Jessica Hopper – keynote speaker at the Women’s Work festival - the answer is simple: 'By and large men are still very much holding the reins of power, money and access within the music industry.'

It’s a power that often unleashes misogynistic attitudes, manipulative excesses and, in the worst cases, the sexual harassment and abuse of women. Whilst the high profile cases of R. Kelly and Heathcliff Berru have raised public awareness of the serious issues facing women in the music industry in the USA, the problem is clearly a universal one.

The crux of the matter is one of women’s rights. 'We can distill it down,' says Hopper. 'It’s about women’s right to be there and their right to exist there safely.'

Women in the music industry – fans and professionals alike - repeatedly come up against a wall of prejudice. 'We still have this very old idea that women are somehow interlopers,' says Hopper, 'particularly in rock ‘n’ roll, rap and hip-hop, and the world of studios. We have very prescribed notions of what is acceptable for women in terms of their images, in terms of the messages they present.'

Hopper, from first-hand experience, is all too aware of the ignorance and prejudices that women face in the music industry: 'People assume I don’t know anything about music, even though I might be speaking to their class, even though I might be addressing their entire university, even after I’m introduced as the editorial director for music at MTV, or Senior Editor at Pitchfork. I’m like, huh? Do you think I just lucked into this job?'

In fact, Hopper has been making her way in the music business since the age of fifteen. Now approaching forty, the insights gained during a quarter of a century absorbing popular music and highlighting the inherent gender inequalities are captured in her critically acclaimed book The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic (Featherproof Books, 2015).

In the summer of 2015 Hopper posted a tweet that invited women to share their experiences of the music business. The response was massive, global and often shocking. Thousands of women around the world described suffering verbal and physical abuse, degrading attitudes and condescension at the hands of men.

Another tweet asked what achievement women in the music industry were most proud of. The very fact of surviving in an often hostile and predominantly male environment cropped up again and again as the source of most pride.

Of course, it’s not just women who are discriminated against. 'It’s also queer and transgender, a-gender, non-binary people who are also having these struggles to have their art considered legitimate and worthwhile, to be able to exist freely and create freely,' Hopper expands.

In an interview she conducted with Björk for Pitchfork magazine in 2015, the Icelandic singer urged bravery and solidarity from those women on the receiving end of male prejudice and harrassment: 'You’re a coward if you don’t stand up,' said Björk. 'Not for yourself, but for women. Say something.'

Björk’s words should also resonate with men, for they share the responsibility to stand up against inappropriate behaviour towards women, wherever and whenever it happens.

Has Hopper found significant male allies in the struggle for equality?

'Rather than some guy popping out of the woodwork saying "let me help you fix this", there are a lot of men who very earnestly want to talk about this stuff and say "I’ve seen some of this stuff happen and I feel really powerless to do anything about it."

Powerless or cowardly? Whatever the reason, Hopper also sees men as prisoners of misguided cultural notions. 'I think the line of bullsh*t that men are fed culturally is as potent and as destructive as what women are fed in terms of expectations,' she says. 'If you’re a guy then you’re supposed to be loyal to other guys before anything else, you know?'

Evidently, gender inequality is a global problem, one that is culturally embedded and systematically enforced in many countries.

'It is the root of a lot of problems. A lot of studies have shown, in the developed world and in the developing world, that when you empower women, when you give them meaningful work, when you give them a way to support themselves, or a way to realize their ambitions beyond just raising children, when you give women equity in the world you see really far-reaching effects. And the music business is a tiny microcosm.'

Whilst there is still a long way to go Hopper is in no doubt that the feminist struggle is in a better place than it was when she started out on her career twenty five years ago.

'Oh gosh yes, absolutely. Even in our wildest dreams at the height of riot grrrl in 1992, I don’t think any of us thought that we could ever have an ongoing public conversation about sexual assault. There is inclusion and diversity,' she adds. 'It’s a world of difference from even ten years ago.'

Yet that said, a gig can still be an intimidating environment for young women, with groping and aggressive moshing examples of the sort of male behaviours that alienate and threaten.

Shortly after her Belfast appearance Hopper will address the topic of inclusivity in music to an audience at the South by South West Festival, in Austin, Texas. 'Punk, rock or rock ‘n’ roll and all these spaces can be inclusive,' she says, 'and I really think that is the route to change.'

She also talks animatedly about the legitimacy of teenage girl pop fans – economically, the most important segment of the music-consuming public. 'We’ve done a lot of the things to take care of ourselves and nurture our own community, and to show young women that there is value in who and how they are and what they want to express in music.'

Where exactly Hopper’s talk will lead the Belfast audience – or vice-versa – only time will tell, but it’s a safe bet that her words will strike a chord with many, male and female alike.

'The only thing I ever really aim for is that people hear a truth that either challenges them or that they can relate to. All I can really speak about is my understanding of the world and I think oftentimes my perspective is not an uncommon one for women who are making music.'

Culture NI spoke with Jessica ahead of her keynote at the Women's Work festival on Sunday, March 6 at the Oh Yeah Music Centre, Belfast, and as part of #CreativityMonth 2016 - a celebration of creativity and the creative industries in Northern Ireland. To view the full programme of events running throughout March visit www.creativityni.org/events. Find out more about Women's Work and register for tickets at www.womensworkni.com.