DANNY KYLE is an icon for most of the acts who'll appear at the Danny Kyle Open Stage 10th Anniversary Concert on Saturday.

For the evening's host, Brian MacNeill, Danny was far more than that.

When Danny passed away on July 5 1998, aged 58, it rocked the folk world and left a gap that has never been replaced, such was the respect for the former shipyard worker who turned to music.

He blended folk with his own comedy stylings, and was close friends and an inspiration to Billy Connelly, among others.

And Brian, a founding member of the Battlefield Band who also produced Danny's album Heroes And Soft Targets, thinks Danny was a once in a lifetime figure.

He said: "Danny really was a great guy. He was a force in your life. You couldn't ask for a better guy to have in your corner to help you out.

"It was a great honour to produce his last album and he was great to work with. I must have known him for about 30 years, and its still tough to realise that he's gone."

This Saturday's concert, at the Old Fruitmarket, sees several past winners of the Celtic Connections Open Stage return to pay tribute to the man who inspired what is now a Celtic Connections tradition.

The likes of Breabach, Lori Watson and Scottish American singer-songwriter David Ferrard are among the acts who'll play on Saturday.

Brian said: "You should never underestimate how dedicated Danny was to bringing young talent through, either by his open stages at festivals or just by giving young artists the chance to play in folk clubs.

"The talent that has played the open stage in the past 10 years, and the variety of acts, would have delighted him.

"The fact that so many people are coming back to play at it shows just how much he was loved, and the respect that people have for the Open Stage."

Like most who knew him, Brian recalls Danny's sense of humour as one of his defining attributes.

"I always remember him being both funny and cutting.

"I remember Ian MacIntosh was staying in his camper van for one of the folk festivals.

"The best way to describe it is that Danny rigged his camper van with booby traps, so that Ian could hardly move without setting something off!"

However, Brian stresses that beneath the jokes and laughs, there was a serious individual in there as well.

"When he did his open stages you could see that he was a serious individual as well, he was a driven man who always tried to address what he felt was important.

"He was a great mentor to have, and once he was in your corner he would fight for you."

After Danny passed away, the decision was made to bring back the open stage concept as a tribute to him, with Danny's close friends Liz Clark and Gibb Todd organising it.

Every night of Celtic Conn-ections sees several acts playing at the event, of which the Evening Times is a media partner.

The talent appearing always features a wide breadth of styles and genres and many artists have turned success on the open stage into successful careers, with one of the most prominent being Breabach.

For the group's guitarist Ewan Robertson, winning a Danny in 2005 was the springboard to success, awards and best of all - meeting Sir Sean Connery.

He said: "The Danny Kyle award was the single biggest thing that ever happened to the band. "When we won the award we then supported Dochas at Celtic Connections and Donald Shaw from Vertigo Records and Capercallie came to our gig.

"And he then signed us to our label! And our agent was there too and it spiralled from there.

"We knew of Danny but we never met him.

"Obviously he had a huge part to play in bringing younger generations through. I think the Open Stage as it is now is a fantastic tribute to him."

And as for meeting Sir Sean, that just shows how far Breabach have soared. Ewan, who recently lifted the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year award for his solo work, explains how they rubbed shoulders with the former 007.

"We did a film launch for Stone of Destiny at Edinburgh Castle, and met Sir Sean Connery - that was great.

"We played a showcase for the guests. We were celeb-spotting but couldn't take pictures because we were busy playing!"

The 23-year-old is also keen to get back onstage on Saturday adding: "It'll be a real mix of folkies and younger bands."