Today we’d like to introduce you to Audawind Shelby, Sam, and Ben Dufton.
Hello Audawind, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
We’ve been playing together for six years this fall. I (Shelby) started first. I’ve always loved performing. I used to hula hoop, did travel cheer for a while, and took every opportunity to get up on stage. So when I was finally old enough to audition for our elementary school’s musical in fifth grade, I went all out for the audition and showed up fully dressed in character as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. From that moment on, I knew that singing was the way to get me up on stage, and I fell in love with it. I started taking voice lessons and sang every chance I could get. When Ben and Sam were in fifth grade, a couple of years later, our mom got Sam a guitar for Easter. Once he opened it and picked it up, he never put it down. Our elementary school held a year’s talent show called Fifth Grade Idol, and Sam just signed up on a whim. At that point, he had been playing the guitar for just a couple of days. So the night before the talent show, Sam was practicing in the kitchen–he was going to perform “Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi–and our mom was like, “Sam, you’ve gotta sing. You can’t just get up there and strum chords without a melody or saying anything for the entire song.” And he just said, “fine, I’ll sing.” So he got up there the next day after playing guitar for two weeks and singing for one night and winning the whole thing.
So now Sam and I were music obsessed at this point, and Ben had a little bit of a twin identity crisis. He and Sam are probably the closest two humans can get, and with Sam having something that quickly became so important and integral to his life, I think Ben was feeling a little bit left out. So my mom got him a drum set, and Ben instantly fell in love with music. He learned how to play the drums but wanted to learn everything about music. He learned how to play the piano, harmonica, bass guitar, banjo, washboard, and guitar and began writing. Flash forward a couple of years of us all doing our own thing–learning how to play our instruments and getting grounded in our craft. So I’m singing Broadway show tunes somewhere, Sam’s playing guitar in one room, Ben’s banging on the drums in another. It’s nearing our mom’s birthday, and she asked us to play a song together for her birthday. From there, our band was formed. We bounced around names for a while before landing on Audawind, and that’s when the pandemic hit.
During the lockdown, we were lying around the house with nothing else to do except to make music–and that’s what we did. Sam had already been learning how to record and produce music for the last couple of years, and we released our first song onto streaming platforms. A couple of weeks after that, we released our first EP, “Traction.”
We all got serious about our craft during this time. We knew we wanted to be musicians before, but this kicked it into high gear. High School was remote, so with all their extra time, Ben and Sam started taking online courses at Berklee College of Music. Once things started to open back up, we were ready. I started booking live shows, Ben kept writing, and Sam kept producing. Now, we have eight songs on Spotify and Apple Music, with two more in the works right now, we just headlined our first show with an opener, and we’re performing three or four nights a week. There’s absolutely nothing else we would rather be doing, so it’s pretty awesome that we get to do this for a living.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our biggest struggle has been our age. None of us is twenty-one, and unfortunately, we look it. At our shows, folks typically guess 14 for the twins and 17 or 19 for me. So when I’m trying to book shows, I’ll email local music joints and bars, and we get turned away because of our age. Most of the time, we don’t get a response, but I’m not going to lie; I’m pretty annoying and don’t often take no for an answer. After five to ten emails and calls, I usually wear a place down, and they give us a shot. So far, everywhere we’ve played has asked to have us back.
Every musician has worked incredibly hard to be where they are today. We’re working with Cynthia Daniels (Grammy-winning producer) on our newest song, “Fast Cars,” and she said something to us in our last recording session we’ll never forget–“every overnight sensation has twenty years of work behind. It.” No road is smooth, but we’re keeping our noses to the grindstone, and we’ll keep plugging away. With every song we write, every show we play, every single one we produce, we’re getting closer and closer to making our dreams come true, and we’re going to make them come true like we do everything–as a family.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our family connection is definitely what sets us apart from most artists. We are incredibly fortunate to be in a blood-related band- it just makes everything easier. We don’t have to schedule band meetings or have a practice schedule, I yell upstairs to the twins, and they come running down, guitars in hand. I think we’re also more in sync than most bands as a result. Ben and Sam’s identical twin connection aside, we’ve always been close, and I think that comes through in our music. Outside of Audawind, our entire family is very close. We also have two older brothers; one works for MLB, and the other is in medical school. Our parents are incredibly supportive, pushing all of their children to follow their dreams, and so far, it’s starting to come together for all five of the Dufton children.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
The energy. Nashville is a truly electric city, and it’s a city of hard workers. Everywhere you look, someone is working to make their dreams come true. It’s also a city that embraces every aspect of music. Most places spotlight the artist as an individual when in reality, music is probably the most collaborative business out there. Nashville lifts the songwriter, the live sound engineer, the DJ, and everyone involved in every aspect of the industry. Taking time away from your craft to attend school is daunting and stressful. I go to Dartmouth, and I often feel like I’m waiting for the twins to finish high school so we can get on with our careers. Ben and Sam felt the same way and didn’t even want to go to school until we visited Nashville. As soon as they stepped onto Belmont’s campus, they both said, “All right, this is pretty awesome.” Going to school in Nashville makes it, so artists don’t have to give up on their dreams of getting an education. Nashville is a city that’s made for people who are going to make their dreams come true.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://audawind.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audawind/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/audawind/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCruCgiRejOETTz8reDuKe3Q/videos?view=0&sort=p&shelf_id=0
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5p1zdbm2SfOHoIgZHKYyl4?si=aVXTKxQGRaGmtvGM3qN3WA
