Celtic Connections: Vanives and Kitti

Glasgow-based VanIves perform music from their debut album, Thanks. Friends since their skateboarding Castle Douglas childhood, Roan Ballantyne and Stuart Ramage have pioneered a unique sound that by involves sampling family VHS tapes and “building …  songs around the memories attached to those moments”. The result is a seamless blend of analogue and digital, soaring vocals rooted in hip-hop-influenced production methods. Thanks was co-produced and mixed by Fred Cox (Rag N Bone Man, Grace Carter, Mabel) and includes the single, ‘Bardennoch’.

“A compelling cocktail” The Skinny

Kitti gives a spellbinding performance that shows just why this young Glaswegian singer-songwriter is being showered with accolades, including Best Vocalist in the Scottish Jazz Awards 2020. Blending gritty soul with jazz influences, her soaring voice and thoughtful lyrics have drawn comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Alicia Keys, and her song, ‘Chasing The Crowd’, was picked as Record of the Week on BBC Radio Scotland’s Afternoon Show.