By JONATHAN GEDDES

THE FUTURE stars of Scottish and traditional music have been honoured at the Danny Kyle Open Stage at Celtic Connections.

The winners of this year's awards were announced tonight as the culmination of the winter music festival.

A total of 71 acts took part in the event with a panel of judges then selecting six winners who returned for the finale.

They all earned a support slot at next year’s Celtic Connections as part of their prize.

Taking home a Danny this year were Glasgow singer-songwriter Marianne McGregor, English folk band An Dha, Glasgow funk band DopeSickFly, Scottish trad music outfit Avocet, Glasgow alternative folk band the Magpies and Gaelic electronica duo Whyte.

Doro Weber, who plays drums with the Magpies, along with singer Lizzie King and bassist Peter Keay, was stunned that the group had scooped a Danny.

Doro, who stays in Maryhill, said: “Our sound isn’t as traditional as some of the other acts so we weren’t sure what the audience would think, but they were really attentive.

“We were all out in the town on Saturday when we got a call to say we’d won, and that just blew us away. Getting to play again next year is a fantastic opportunity for bands like ourselves to get some exposure.”

Also over the moon were An Dha, a fiddle and cello duo made up of Jaya Hanley and Sarah James. They were one of the last acts to play at this year’s festival, performing on Saturday.

Jaya said: “We only found out this morning, because our phones had died on the Saturday night. So we woke up to texts saying we’d won!

“The atmosphere had been so great, everyone was clapping along and it was a lovely experience, but there’s so many good players that we didn’t expect to win.

“It was a real honour. We’re full time musicians, and were playing at a wedding in Southampton the other week when we got a call from Liz (Clark, who runs the stage) saying there was a spot open and did we want to come up for it? We thought it’d just be a fun time.”

Marianne McGregor only started writing folk music songs last year, but her words and voice impressed the judges enough that she landed a Danny.

The 23-year-old, who stays in Dennistoun, said: “I never really thought about it being a competition, I was just really enjoying the experience.

“I was shocked to win, because performing folk music is quite a new thing for me, it’s more jazz I’ve done in the past.”

The awards are named after folk great Danny Kyle, who was well known for championing fresh and emerging young talent.