_{On the same day that three of the biggest rock bands of the 80’s announced shows in Belfast (Def Leppard and Cheap Trick in the SSE Arena on 2nd Dec and Europe in the Ulster Hall on 11th Sept) there was an announcement that we finally had a release date for the debut album from a local band that formed way back in 1983. The self titled debut from No Hot Ashes will be released via Frontiers Music on 23rd March. The band had previously released the EP “Reunion” following their reformation in 2013.}

_{Vixen singer Janet Gardner was a guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show in July, talking about her new solo album. We wish her well and a speedy recovery from her recent emergency operation. She has just released a video for the track “Candle”. This was one of the tracks she chose to play on the Show and this is what she had to say about it –}

_{“The song “Candle” is the power ballad. I wrote that about a phase where a lot of people in my life passed away – both my parents within a few years of each other, Jan the original founding member of Vixen and lead guitarist passed away. There was just a whole bunch of that going on all at once. It was definitely therapeutic for me to put it in a song – my feelings; you don’t want to be selfish or keep people here that are not well or able to have a good life, but it’s hard to let go. That’s what that one is about.”}

_{“Silent Soldiers” is the third album from Finnish melodic rock band Prayer and it was released on 19th January via Escape Music. I hadn’t previously heard of the band and obviously therefore had never listened to the previous albums released in 2005 and 2012. However a quick listen to the promotional links provided by Escape Music convinced me that this was an album worth checking out in more detail. I included the track “Silent Treatment” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 19th January.}