Music preview: Jim Gilchrist picks his Celtic Connections highlights

Contemplating the roots music behemoth that is Glasgow’s Celtic Connections can induce a dizzying bewilderment akin to that induced by the annual first sighting of an Edinburgh Fringe programme. As the programme truncheons you with statistics – 2,100 artists participating in 300 events at 20 venues across the Dear Green Place – choosing just what to attend can be a challenge, although for those nervous of straying beyond the security of their preferred genres, the online programme helpfully lists them under folk, Americana, world, fusion etc. Such choices are always invidious, but here are a few to consider.