About Me
With upbeat pop-rock driven sounds and endless lyrical optimism--Wendy Duffy started writing music in 2002 as a way to express herself and create the kind of music she always loved to listen to growing up. Duffy, who grew up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, spent nearly every summer hitting up Milwaukee's World Largest Music Festival called Summerfest--listening to the bands that left a lasting impression on her as a fan and an artist. In addition to being an avid concert goer by the age of 7, her grandfather, Burnett Kubly, was an accordian player and shared his music with Wendy at a very young age. Music was timeless to Wendy, as songs were like kodaks from her personal scrap book. One play of a song from 1984, and she was right back to that place and that feeling she had at the age of 6. Duffy always dreamed as young girl she would leave Wisconsin and head West. A few months after graduating college in 2001 from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and saving some much needed cash, she packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles. Once she landed with her feet firmly planted down, she tried her hand out at acting. Although she ejoyed acting and still does-- it was while attending those acting classes where Wendy realized she had something she wanted to say/share with the world, so she began to write. After she started writing what she calls her "journey", she naturally wanted to learn an instrument so she chose guitar--an instrument she had always wanted to learn.
The story of a small-town-girl trying to make it in the big city is NOT a new one but Duffy has something special that seperates her from all the other dreamers--a "never-give-up-attitude in accepting anything less than living the dream." She worked several jobs to make ends meet over the years and even briefly sang back up and wrote with a band called Better Off Red (who were and still are great friends of Duffy). Those friends have only strengthened her desire to make the music she has longed to make. She has also truly realized over the past few years, that it takes time and hard work to get where you want to get in life, and this career path is no different, "It's hard to get ahead in the music business--to get where you want to get, which is ultimately making music and getting paid to do it--but enjoying the journey and the process is 75% of the fun," and that is exactly what Wendy is doing. She is enjoying the journey, a journey she feels is only in the early stages of her music career. She is elated about growing into the musician she dreams on becoming. “The songs I have produced so far are truly a reflection of where I’ve come from, where I’ve been and where I am going as a person and an artist,†says Duffy, “I’m constantly writing and to be honest, I don’t feel I can get things produced fast enough—because every time I write and create news songs I like the new one better than the last one.†During her time spent in Los Angeles, she also met and married her husband Drew in June of 2005. Later that summer, they decided to take a much needed "industry break," and spend the next 5 months living/working in Salzburg, Austria. In January of 2006, Duffy moved to the songwriting capital of the world, Nashville, for a richer music scene and so far, it seems to fit Wendy and her husband Drew perfectly; more lowkey and personal.
Over the past 2 years, Wendy has performed at several songwriting venues including The Commodore, Brentwood Sports Bar, Hall of Fame Lounge, The Listening Room, Cresent Cafe, Limelight, French Quarter and Ri'chards. Duffy completed her first independently released EP titled Roads Less Traveled in the summer of 2007 and finished her full album project titled, October Road- release in the November of 2008. She will kick off 2009 with a small tour in Wisconsin, Texas and Colorado to promote the self-released album, October Road. Duffy's project can be found on Itunes/Rhapsody/Nashville Independent Music this holiday season. This spring, Duffy plans to perform with her full band for a project showcase in Nashville. Venue TBA in early 2009.
Duffy's persistence and hardwork help propel her forward in following her lifelong dream of becoming a full-time musician but she credits family, friends, faith and her main partner-in-crime and husband Drew. “He’s so supportive on a daily basis and he’s been a huge fan with our friends in Nashville and back home, so when I have a tough day, it’s great coming home to that kind of support. That’s why I wrote Bein’ With You. You have those kind of days as a person and an artist where you feel like you're on top of the world--you're really making headway and then you have other kind of days where you feel as if you've been, literally, chewed up and spit out. Having my best friend/husband to come home to at the end of the day can make a bad day a good night,†says Duffy. She also credits her support system as her family, all Wisconsin natives who made the move to Nashville with their respective families in the summer of 2007. "The hardest part of moving away from home several years ago was leaving behind my family. We were and still are so close but I knew in my heart I could never give up "the dream." Never in a million years would I have thought my brother, sister and parents along with their wives/husbands/children, all pick up and move to Nashville. I feel blessed to have them here; blessed to have them here to share this crazy-ride-of-a-journey."
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY?
That's tough- I really have too many, but..I will try. It's a toss up. I spent my summers on a lake in Eagle River, Wisconsin and those were such special times. Swimming on the lake, boating, playing games, racing go-karts--we stayed busy as the cottage did NOT have a TV. Yes, and this was just in 1982. No TV? What on earth did we ever do! Second favorite childhood memory? Growing up on top of a Swiss Restaurant my parents owned, The Chateau. I have too many great memories to even start!
SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT?
Ok, I hate to say something cliche (although it's true), like love--but honestly that would be my number one--I think life is truly all about loving others/giving love and being loved--and all different kinds of love (friend, child, parent, spouse). Outside of that...I would say it's easy...Wine, Coffee, Cheese, Movies, Music. These are things I NEED to have almost daily and I pretty much do. :) I will forever maintain my theory that there is NOTHING wrong with a glass of wine a day. :)
WORST JOB YOU EVER HAD?
This is a tie--but it was during the same time period when I first moved to LA and I had two jobs. 1, I handed out fliers for Universal Studios in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood--everyday for 4 hours. AWESOME. That clearly did not make me enough money, so I worked in customer service for a vending machine company- wow. I won't even name the company.
ANIMAL YOU WISH COULD BE A PET?
Chipmunks. It all goes back to my days at the cottage in Eagle River--we got to feed them peanuts as they crawled on our legs!
BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT WENDY DUFFY?
That my life is perfect and I'm always happy. I think people see what they want to see, not what really exists or is truth. I've always been a pretty happy gal--positive--but it has not always been EASY. I WANT to be happy, so I choose it and I focus all my energy on it. (What you think about you bring about- I believe that is truth.) My faith is what pulls me up when life brings me down--and trust me, I too have been VERY down, in fact, most of my early 20's. I've loved and lost in many ways and I have had a lot of disappointment/struggles in my life (as has my family)--but it never stops me for long. My sister shared with me something she had heard from a 12-year-old student of hers and it really stuck with me. She said, "Life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% of what we make of it/how we deal with it." I never forget that.
CURRENT SONG YOU CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO?
Right now...That's Not My Name by the Ting Tings. Man, it's catchy as hell and it makes me wish I had a cool accent! I heard this song on the Victoria Secret show and I workout to it and blast it in the car everyday! I'm playing the heck out of this song---it's a great song. Can't stop listening to it right now....I'm also really vibing with Paramore's- Misery Business.
TOP 6 FAVORITE SONGS:
In Your Eyes-Peter Gabriel, Faithfully-Journey, Billie Jean/The Way You Make Me Feel -Michael Jackson, Free Fallin’-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Tiny Dancer- Elton John
MOST INFLUENTIAL ALBUMS:
Room for Squares- John Mayer, Rumors- Fleetwood Mac, Thriller- Michael Jackson, Speechless- Steven Curtis Chapman, C'mon C'mon- Sheryl Crow, Brandi Carlile- Brandi Carlile, Nothing Left to Loose- Mat Kearney, Frontiers- Journey, Indigo Girls-Indigo Girls
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