Well-known local musician Allan McKenzie enjoyed many Rabbie returns when he debuted a special set of songs uniquely put together for Lounge's regular Sunday Live sessions.

As we celebrate the birthday of Robert Burns, it proves an apt occasion for evergreen performer Allan to dust off his amazing repertoire - which apparently extends to some 1000 songs - in scintillating style within Lounge's intimate surroundings.

As he tells the audience, his idea is to simply try to "make a connection between Rabbie and songwriters I have been making money from for years".

Joking aside, he also asks those gathered: "What if Rabbie Burns was to come along and visit Scotland today? Burns collected 400 plus songs. If he hadn't collected those songs, we wouldn't know about them.

"He had the opportunity to get the money from publishing those, but he felt he didn't have the right and passed it up." Allan later admits: "I didn't get to know Rabbie Burns until I started working in Flannigans (now Room). But I have grown to enjoy performing Burns songs and listening to them." He's certainly true to his word; Allan's love of the Bard shines through during a set that seeks to bridge the gap between traditional folk songs of yore and the best in modern singer-songwriting, showcasing Rabbie's enduring influence through the ages.

In effect, while attempting to guess at which compositions might have caught the Bard's ear 250 years on from his birth, the local guitar talent re-imagines Burns for a new generation.

So, we get a set composed of those defining Rabbie moments - 'A Red, Red Rose', 'Auld Lang Syne' and 'The Braes O' Killiecrankie' - jostling sweetly next to the likes of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison.

Along the way, Allan explains the links he believes are inherent between Burns' 'Westlin' Winds' and Sting's 'Fields of Gold', while making a compelling case for his argument that the Bard would surely have admired the protest songs of the two Bobs: Dylan and Marley. In this local songsmith's hands, the latter is less 'Redemption Song', more 'Reconstitution Song', as we are invited to look at well-known songs in interesting new ways.

However, even if you don't agree with the theory, there is much to enjoy here, from Gallagher and Lyle's 'lesser known 'Willie' and Gerry Rafferty's 'Steamboat Row' to rip-roaring takes on Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl' and Simon and Garfunkel's 'The Boxer' All the while, Allan proves himself a master of both the reflective ballad and the triumphal singalong, with a voice to suit any melodic challenge.

Adding to the sweet harmonies, there's even a surprise Viking invasion of Lounge, which sees a group of Danish visitors suddenly throwing an uproarious chorus behind every remaining song.

They've clearly found that a dram's a dram, for a' that, but it enlivens a particularly fond take on 'You've Got A Friend'.

Allan finishes with a flurry, thanks to 'Loch Lomond', specially proposed by a visitor who makes her request "on behalf of the Danishes", and a hymnal 'Ae Fond Kiss'.

It's fair to say that our host's experiment was a success; Allan McKenzie has made a Celtic Connection all of his own.