Celtic Connections, Oran Mor, Glasgow
February 2nd, 2024
Glasgow’s Oran Mor venue, in its basement, was host to a Celtic Connections gig last night by the very electric sounds of one NATI. a singer from Scotland with a remarkable tale to tell with regards to how she became a vocalist song writer. We were first treated to the finely tuned Kirsten Adamson who led her band into the smoothest live set you could imagine.
They were a five piece of double bass, guitars, playing blue grass ragtime songs that they made look easy being also young and full of life. The venue opened up to music self written from their two albums that celebrate the style and have a freedom of lyric capturing the spirit of this festival perfectly and to great accomplishment.
The room had a great energy when NATI. took to stage having a thrilling energy of her own. Her band played keyboard, bass, but the sound was modern mixed with old. She held the room in high esteem, with a breakout confidence that just came totally naturally to her, her voice and the music was on another level. The Connections festival is a great showcase for artists whose music is a way of life, and it always offers its brilliant strain as audiences revel in it.
The story of her fantastic journey must have started with her flawless voice, she sang to very varied styles of songs with the beauty each required. She became interested in guitar during lockdown, and wound up trading her music through online platforms that she then broke through to find herself recording “Blossoms” and creating a legend where it sold out in a Glasgow gig. All her fans were there it seemed, all onboard to partake in this remarkable, unique journey thundering through her musical style.
And her charm of very Celtic, American origin fused together to make her and her original writing even more impressive.
The venue was a very rich scene filled to capacity, one big musical party. The Connections festival building up in its last days for the year, celebrating its 30 year mile stone, in the hands of this highly talented musician who surpassed her role in leading the night.
I took a look from the back of the room to see how well things were swinging but when she sang I just closed my eyes in its bliss and beauty, also very lively, filled with brimming energy in a performance not to forget. The night was visually stunning, beaming with a greatly talented youth, who in turn beamed as they played their instruments, passing along groovieness, letting loose the talents the festival so well collects. We could really enjoy her, as it all just came out, her band, the vibe, that was musically able to reach out with bonding hands and expertly cause its fine art of just jiving.
Daniel Donnelly
Mumble Music 