IF there was ever an annus horribilis in the world of popular culture then 2016 must surely be it.

The sorrowful year saw the world robbed of many of its shinning lights from David Bowie and Gene Wilder to Alan Rickman and Mohammed Ali.

For one man from Holcombe Brook the year represented rock bottom ­— but also marked the start of a renaissance, as he sought a remedy for his depression through music and writing.

Tom Kirkham, a 35-year-old freelance writer and self confessed music obsessive, has now written a book, Pop Life: The Story of a Minor Musical Expedition, charting an exploration of the music scene motivated by the death of his musical heroes.

Mr Kirkham said: “The book is basically telling the story of a year long trip I took to immerse myself in live music as much as I could, and it was really inspired by the death of Prince.

“2016 started badly with David Bowie’s death which hit me pretty hard as a lifelong Bowie fan. But there was something admirable about the way Bowie choreographed his final moves, releasing his album just a few days before his death and there’s a sense of closure to this.

“Whereas with Prince it was completely out of the blue and a total shock, and I was already in a dark place. I was suffering from depression and his death just knocked me for six.

“But it also gave me a great desire to go out and start exploring music again.”

Beginning on his birthday, Mr Kirkham set off on a journey in a bid to learn to love music and life again.

His quest took him around the world through pubs, clubs and stadiums and via Neil Young, Depeche Mode and more, as he discovered that the music scene “hadn’t died a death but was surprisingly vibrant”.

Mr Kirkham said: “I originally just started writing as a diary, so I didn’t forget anything. It was only a few months in that I got an idea to do something longer and sharing it with others.

When I started thinking about a book and telling my story there was a question of “is music a good enough reason to carry on and get up in a morning”. At that point in my life I was struggling, I didn’t know whether it was the weekend or the week. But this expedition gave me a sense of structure and purpose, and I became more and more obsessed with seeing it through.”

The journey opened a window into new territory for Mr Kirkham, while also enabling him to look back on his own life ­— something he says made his “immersion in live music something more personal and reflective.”

He added: “I was particularly interested in exploring new music, finding new bands and scenes and sharing them; and this brought back memories I had forgotten over the years.

“I discovered the musical past, the history of music in the bands I was seeing, but also my own past, growing up playing gigs around Ramsbottom.”

Coming of age in the 90s Mr Kirkham, a former pupil of Woodhey High School and Holy Cross College before going on to study at Kings College London, was “just about old enough to enjoy the Manchester scene”.

He attended his first gig aged 11, when he saw Oasis and recalls sneaking into gigs underage as a teenager.

During those years Mr Kirkham was also in a series of bands, and released two albums with his outfit Silent Alliance, which he admits are perhaps passably big in Japan.

2016 was also a year marked by eye-opening political earthquakes, and in Pop Life Mr Kirkham further tries to make sense of Trump, Brexit and terrorism, and asks whether music might be a solution, or at least at least a distraction, from them too.

He said: “I think the amazing thing about music it that it can be an incredible marker of time and place. the music became a sound track to that.”

After discussing the issues in his book, Mr Kirkham is also calling for people to be “more open and frank about mental health”.

He said: “We need to be more open and create an environment where young people are not afraid to speak out, even at the most basic level, if they are feeling anxious or stressed.”

Pop Life: The Story of a Minor Musical Expedition is out now from Novum Publishing.