Hands Across the Water, Jan 17, Main Auditorium, Glasgow ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 7.30pm Based on the best-selling benefit album of the same name, which raised money for children affected by the 2004 tsunami, this year's opening concert features collaborative performances from a galaxy of Celtic and Americana talent, including members of Altan, Solas, Flook and Capercaillie, banjo doyenne Alison Brown, hot young Canadian group the Duhks, singer-songwriters Beth Nielsen Chapman and Jim Lauderdale, accordion ace Mairtin O'Connor and Nashville fiddler Andrea Zonn.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Solas, Jan 20, Main Auditorium The 10th anniversary gathering of the Irish-American supergroup.

l Showcase Scotland Concert, Jan 25, Main Auditorium Eleven leading Scottish acts on one bill.

Richie Havens, Jan 18, ABC, 8pm As the man who opened Woodstock, Richie Havens has long since secured his place in counterculture history, latterly winning a new generation of fans with projects such as his Groove Armada collaboration in 2002, and his recent studio work with Oriental and Latin musicians.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Dick Gaughan: Handful Of Earth, Jan 22, City Halls Scotland's finest political singer reprises his classic 1981 album.

l Songs Of Conscience, Jan 23 & 28, Main Auditorium Two star-studded nights of music with a message from both sides of the Atlantic. Featured artists include Odetta, Tom Paxton, Roy Bailey, Thea Gilmore, Archie Fisher and Karine Polwart.

Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jan 18, Main Auditorium, 7.30pm A leading light of the US country-folk scene since the early 1990s, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter returns to Scotland after a five-year absence. In a repertoire ranging from rollicking bluesy rock to soulful introspection, her razor-sharp lyrics and rich, powerful voice stand consistently out from the crowd.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Beth Nielsen Chapman, Jan 21, Main Auditorium Widely-revered US songstress, with support from Teddy Thompson.

l Wine, Women And Song, Jan 30, ABC In-the-round performance featuring Gretchen Peters, Suzy Boggus and Matraca Berg.

l Rosanne Cash: Black Cadillac, Feb 2, Main Auditorium The Man In Black's daughter performs songs from her acclaimed album.

Shooglenifty/Skolvan Big Band, Jan 20, Old Fruitmarket, 10pm Scotland's finest purveyors of turbo-charged folk-fuelled grooves launch their eagerly awaited sixth album, Troots, with special guest Tanya Tagaq, a Canadian Inuk throat singer. Opening the show is the 10-piece version of renowned Breton outfit Skolvan, combining traditional instrumentation with an array of brass.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Celtic Procession, Jan 21, Strathclyde Suite More grand-scale Breton folk/fusion, supported by powerhouse Qubcois trio Genticorum.

l Peatbog Faeries/Paul Jenning & Fraser Stone/DJ Dolphin Boy, Feb 2, Classic Grand Another night of dancefloor mayhem.

Scotland's Music Live, Jan 20, City Halls, 7.30pm Several firsts as the BBC SSO and the City Halls both make their festival debut, opening BBC Scotland's year-long celebration of our national music, with the premiere of Shetland fiddler Chris Stout's orchestral work, Dynrst, and appearances by Michael Marra, Daimh, James Graham and Karine Polwart.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Youth Concert, Jan 20, Main Auditorium Tomorrow's stars of Scottish folk perform Dick Gaughan's new, large-scale composition, Treaty 300.

l A Scots Quair, Jan 21, City Halls Wendy Weatherby's complete musical trilogy.

l John McCusker: Under One Sky, Feb 2, Old Fruitmarket A co-commission with Cambridge Folk Festival, featuring Blur's Graham Coxon among a 12-piece ensemble.

BEla Fleck and the Flecktones, Jan 24, Old Fruitmarket, 9.45pm Expect some dazzling musical pyrotechnics from the undisputed king of progressive banjo, an eight-times Grammy winner who mixes up folk, jazz, classical, electronic and world influences, in cahoots with his awesomely gifted three-piece band.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Banjo Night, Jan 25, Strathclyde Suite Another chance to see Fleck, as he lines up with an international who's-who of pickers, including Ireland's Gerry O'Connor and Seamus Egan, plus fellow US maestros Alison Brown and Bruce Molsky.

l Crooked Still, Jan 25, ABC Brilliant new bluegrass outfit, a major hit at last year's festival.

Railroad Earth, Jan 28, ABC, 8pm Among all the innovative bands to emerge from the current Americana vogue, this New Jersey sextet have been generating the biggest buzz. Combining virtuoso musicianship with tremendous verve and breathtaking rhythmic dynamism, their sensational live shows are fast becoming the stuff of legend.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Stairwell Sisters, Jan 27, City Halls & Jan 30, Old Fruitmarket Sparkling all-gal five-piece, putting a fresh new spin on old-time sounds.

l Jerry Douglas Band, Feb 3, ABC Ultra-classy US roots outfit led by the world's top dobro player.

John Martyn: Solid Air, Jan 29, Main Auditorium, 7.30pm Regularly ranked on all-time great albums lists, in any genre, John Martyn's 1973 classic receives only its second live performance of the 21st century, after his instant-sellout show in London last autumn.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus Three, Jan 18, Classic Grand More maverick musical genius with its roots in the 1970s, as the ex-Soft Boys/Egyptians frontman introduces his new band, featuring REM's Peter Buck.

l John Cale, Jan 22 , ABC A return Glasgow visit by the groundbreaking Velvet Underground co-founder.

Ballads of the Book, Jan 30, Strathclyde Suite, GRCH, 8pm A live preview of the eponymous forthcoming album (due out in March), which teams up Scotland's finest musical and literary talents, with the writers penning lyrics for the singers to perform. Tonight's line-up includes James Yorkston, Idlewild, Karine Polwart, Mike Heron and Alasdair Roberts.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Justin Currie, Jan 20, ABC Del Amitri's brilliantly literate former frontman, now going solo.

l Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Jan 21, ABC A live reunion of the unlikely dream-team behind last year's Mercury-nominated album Ballad Of The Broken Seas.

Real World Night, Jan 31, Old Fruitmarket, 9pm The festival goes global in glittering style, as Peter Gabriel's label hosts a night of international sounds, with appearances by Skip "Little Axe" McDonald, dub guru Adrian Sherwood, Asian underground pioneers Joi, African singer-songwriter Daby Toure and Uzbekistani songstress Sevara Nazarkhan. See offer below.

IF YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, TRY: l Burns Mela, Jan 28, Old Fruitmarket A vibrant fusion of Burns Night tradition with Asian music, food and dancing.

l Flutes Of The World, Jan 30, City Halls See Indian flute legend Hariprasad Chaurasia, along with China's Guo Yue, Jean-Michel Veillon from Brittany, Manchester's Michael McGoldrick and our own Iain MacDonald.