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They breed great vocal chords in Wales. Check out the crowds at Cardiff or the timeless voice of Tom Jones. And then there's the country's latest singing sensation, Duffy.
The 24-year-old, blue-eyed soul diva is coming to New Zealand for the first time next year to play three concerts, including a date at Auckland's Vector Arena on March 31.
With the release of her debut album, Rockferry, earlier this year she became modern soul music's next big thing following the decline of Amy Winehouse.
Not bad for a girl from a small village called Nefyn who had always dreamed of pop super-stardom. In her late teens she won second place in Welsh TV talent show Wawffactor but it wasn't until 2004 that things really started to happen following a meeting with Jeanette Lee, the boss of iconic indie record label Rough Trade. The rest is history.
Similar to Winehouse, Duffy takes influence from old school soul. Rockferry has sold more than 3.4 million copies world-wide thanks to singles like Mercy and the more unusual and sombre sounding title track which opens the album.
In New Zealand it has sold more than 30,000 copies and is still in the top 10 after more than 25 weeks. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 17 from Ticketmaster for the Vector show and Ticketek for the Wellington and Christchurch concerts.
