Welsh Soul

Following in the famous footsteps of fellow Welsh crooners like Dame Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and Charlotte Church, 23-yearold singer Duffy (first name: Aimee) is blowing up the charts. Her soulful debut album, “Rockferry,” topped the Pan-European Album Chart soon after its release this spring. Since then, it’s reached No. 1 in Britain, Ireland and Sweden and has just been released in the United States.

Duffy, who grew up listening to her father’s Motown records, says soul touches a special ...