Mark Lee Townsend

I just shook hands/met one of my heros: Mr. Mark Lee Townsend.  I found out from work that a Beatles cover band called the "64 band" was going to be playing at a place tonight called the Bunganut Pig.  Of course that sounded like a good time and it was a free show.  So I went, only to find out that the frontman is Mark Lee Townsend.  His resume is outstanding and I have been a fan of his work for years.  Namely he has mixed and produced several of Relient K's songs/albums, plus played guitar for dcTalk just to name a few things.

I stayed for the full 3 hour set and only one song stumped me.  Turns out, I have heard it before but I couldn't sing along with it like I did for all the rest. 

Short post, but I wanted to write while it was fresh...like 30 minutes fresh.

thanks for reading, you stay classy,
Faith

p.s. I just pulled this bio from myspace.com/markleetownsend :

The multi-faceted career of Mark Lee Townsend is exemplified through his work as a producer, engineer, guitarist and singer/songwriter. These various positions have led to his continual influence on the music industry.

After playing in various bands in high school (including one with Flogging Molly drummer, George Schwindt) Townsend entered the national music scene in 1984 as a singer/guitarist/songwriter for CCM new wave pioneers, Bash 'N The Code. From here he worked with various artists, eventually becoming guitarist for Steve Taylor and Some Band in the early 90s. In 1995 he joined dc Talk and toured with them through 2001. In 1997 when they took a break from tours, he and the other members of dc Talk's backing band focused on their own music by starting the band Zilch. Townsend was the writer/vocalist/guitarist and they put out their album "Platinum" on Gotee Records.

Shortly after this release, dc Talk started touring again, and the members of Zilch put their project on hold and went back on the road with dc Talk. During breaks, Townsend continued on the road as Jennifer Knapp's lead guitarist, doing tours with Jars Of Clay, Third Day and shows at the acclaimed Lilith Fair.

In 2002, Townsend decided to take a break from touring and with this, he switched the focus of his profession but not industry. It turned out that he not only had talent for being a musician, but also a producer. He began working with a little-known band at the time called Relient K and went on to producing five of their albums as well as part of their most recent album. His work can also be heard on albums by House Of Heroes, The Wedding, The O.C. Supertones, Jennifer Knapp, The Evan Anthem and Deas Vail.

As if he hadn't already crossed an ample amount of boundaries in his career, in 2004 Townsend moved to Nashville and started Brave New World, a record company to focus on artist development and doing in house records, much like many of the record labels in the 1960's. In between productions, Townsend is currently working on his first solo record and the sophomore Zilch album as well, scheduled to be released early next year.

Mark has also recently entered the national pop scene as a writer, penning the music for the Kelly Clarkson song "Cry" on her latest release "All I Ever Wanted".

Recently, Townsend has been quoted as saying "I'm not sure what the future is of the music business or rock 'n roll (economically speaking), but I still see a need to make honest music that affects the lives of people in a good way, and I think that always has a future. I want to hopefully continue to be a part of that and leave some tangible positive thing in the world".