David and then Joseph both started writing songs, and individually made their initial marks at open mike nights, playing in and around Leeds. When a booking agent suggested that they unite as an act it made perfect sense.

Bassist Rob Clayton and David Dunwell are long-time friends who spent many hours in their youth listening to music together. Drummer Jonny Lamb is Clayton’s cousin. Guitarist Dave Hanson heard Joseph Dunwell singing in a pub and, duly impressed, befriended and started playing with him.

"We all made music for a living before we became a group," notes Hanson."It’s not just a band that formed. It’s organic and it comes from sharing the same roots, and everybody growing up, listening to and learning music together." Once they united as The Dunwells, they all knew that something special was brewing.

The Leeds Telegraph & Argus agreed. "With their easy-going nature, their sheer enjoyment of playing and supreme musicianship this band looks set to burst onto a much wider scene. You can almost taste the expectancy."

The buzz spread to London when the band booked a gig at The Bedford, a noted showcase venue where acts like Paolo Nutini and KT Tunstall began their rise. The Dunwells nearly missed it when their van broke down on the outskirts of London.

But they piled into a taxi with their gear and hit the stage just in time to be seen by Tony Moore, the influential music promoter, BBC radio air personality and singer-songwriter who immediately became a key supporter.

The band spent 2010 touring Britain and Europe, playing such top festivals as Hop Farm (with Bob Dylan and Van Morrison), Edinburgh’s cutting-edge Fringe fest, Triumph Live (with Mumford and Sons) and the Fete De La Musique in Paris.

Following the release of their debut EP in October 2010, The Dunwells were named Artist of the Month by Caffe Nero coffee chain - the British equivalent of Starbucks - and played a 20 day/40 show tour of its shops in England and Scotland to win over a growing U.K. fan base. To help spread their music further, The Dunwells frequently busk on the streets of the city’s they visit.

Now with their first album under their belts, The Dunwells are primed to take their music as far and wide as they can. And one can hear that solidarity in the music they create together. "We’re all in it for the same reason," concludes David Dunwell. "We just love making music."