Nefyn singer Duffy aiming to be top of the pops
Nov 29 2007 by Sarah Scott, Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald
A SINGER from Lln has hit the big time and been featured on national radio and television.
Aimee Duffy, 23, of Nefyn, performed with her band on Later with Jools Holland on BBC2 on Friday and her new single, Rockferry, was record of the week on the Edith Bowman show on Radio One last week.
The singer, who performs under the name of Duffy, has been compared to Amy Winehouse and Dusty Springfield and is set to take the national charts by storm when her album is released in the new year.
This week, her proud dad, John Duffy, spoke to the Herald about her achievements.
He said: “It’s great to see how well she is doing. She has worked hard at it and writes all her own songs.
“Everybody is talking about her, people come up to me on the street to say they saw her on television.
“She really is putting Nefyn on the map, this is where her heart is.
“Growing up in this area means she will also keep her feet on the ground, I just tell her to keep working hard.
“It was magic to see her on Jools Holland’s show. She telephoned me afterwards and was more worried about the band than her own performance.”
John runs the Constitutional Club in Nefyn, where a young Aimee got her first taste of performing.
He said: “She has been singing since she was around four years old.
“On a Saturday morning she used to come to the club with me and get up on the stage and sing. I used to say to her ‘you’re going to be a star,’ – look at her now.”
One of her former teachers at Ysgol Nefyn, Glenys Williams, also remembers a little performer nurturing her talent.
She said: “I remember Aimee well, she was a sweet girl but quite shy.
“I remember she always enjoyed singing and playing instruments at school – she is obviously musical.
“But I remember her dancing the most. She would lead the other girls to create a little dance during play time.
“Everyone in Nefyn is very proud of her success.”
After leaving primary school, Aimee lived for a short while in Pembrokeshire, before returning to Lln.
She studied at Coleg Menai and did a computer course at Menter Aelhaearn before starting an art and music course at Chester University.
Duffy’s first step on the road to stardom was in 2003 when she took part in the S4C talent programme Waw Ffactor, when she was runner up.
One of the show judges Owen Powell, guitarist with the indie band Catatonia, and ex 60 Foot Dolls member Richard Parfitt put her in touch with the Rough Trade record label.
Through the record label she has struck up a working relationship with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, who has been a lynchpin of her latest work.
John Duffy added: “I have taken her all over the country for her music and she has spent some time in Geneva recording her album.
“She came back to Nefyn two or three months ago with some people from the record company and they were doing photo shoots in Porthdinllaen and the local area.”
She has a twin sister Katie and an older sister Kelly. Her mother Joyce lives in Pembrokeshire.
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