"I have always been funky”, Jesse Rae says as a matter-of-fact when asked about the inspiration behind his Celtic-infused funk music.

“I remember I found a really, really early funkadelic record in a junk shop when I was young.

"When I played it I just thought ‘this is exactly what I want to do’.”

Since then Jesse, from the Scottish Borders town of St Boswells, has forged a career out of combining his love for funk and passion for Scotland.

Back in the 80s, he released a string of solo singles with the help of some of his funk heroes, Parliament-Funkadelic’s Bernie Worrell and Zapp founder Roger Troutman.

While he failed to secure chart success as a solo artist, his work as a songwriter saw him secure a top-three hit in the UK Top 40.

Odyssey’s disco hit Inside Out, written by Jesse, was a mainstream success and can still be heard at funk club nights in the city.

Now 65, he explains: “Folk over here only really know me for writing the Inside Out tune.

“And the music video I did called Over The Sea with Bernie Worrell.

“I had to go out to America in 1974 to work with the best funk people that I could find and I did – the rest is history.

“All these guys were at their peak.

"When we went into the studio to do anything at all, everything just worked really well because we were friends.

“It’s pretty sad over here that we don’t have our own things, like promoters and labels.

"I think it’s because we don’t have our own country.

“It’s been like that since I came back. It’s a lot of London based folk organising the bigger events.”

Jesse spent a decade in the US, mingling with industry giants including studio engineers Gary Kellgren, Jimmy Douglass, Daryl Hall from Hall & Oats and jazz guitarist Hiram Bullock.

Before returning to his home country, following the death of close friend Gary, Jesse was summoned to top recording studio The Record Plant by drummer Buddy Miles, a member of Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsy’s.

“He rattled off this track called Disco Heaven and he just sat behind a practice kit and he was singing his head off,” Jesse recalls.

“It went on to tape and things happened and I came back to Scotland and brought the tape with me.”

The recordings haven’t seen the light of day since but will be given their time on stage at Jesse’s upcoming performance at Glasgow’s Hug and Pint where he will be doing a live music video show and live songwriting to the tracks.

He adds: “I’m bringing back the spirit of some wonderful musicians that I worked with that are no longer with us today.

“It’s going to be weird and wonderful because I just got them ‘baked’ which is when they put them in a oven for 72 hours.

“You run them off on to digital and it’s just like the day I put them in the box.”

Rae also holds an affinity for self-financed music videos.

His most famous video Over The Sea, he says, inspired the movies Highlander and Braveheart.

The song was co-written by Bernie Worrell, who later went on to work with the Talking Heads, and also features him in the video.

Following his death, the Scottish Government passed a motion honouring Bernie and the contribution he made to the culture and musical heritage of Scotland.

For the entirety of his career, Jesse has assumed a traditional Celtic dress including a kilt, crossbelt, sporran and helmet, creating a interesting juxtaposition of black music and Celtic culture.

He says: “I’ve always worn a kilt so I was determined to keep it.

“A couple of things happened to me including when Gary died – he was just such an inspiration to me.

“When he died I think I went to war with the evil folk in the business and the non-funky – folk who aren’t funky.

“I had always worn the stuff but the helmet came in 1983.”

Jesse Rae will play the Hug and Pint on Saturday February 11.