Richard Townend
Richard Townend singer songwriter based in Maldon in Essex is happy to travel. “I write songs and play in my original band Richard Townend & The Mighty Bosscats. We have 12 albums out. I play nationally and internationally.
Well, last month provided some exciting opportunities for the band, we had our first successful jam session at Hemlocks, leading to more dates from March onward. We also had the privilege of performing a live session on City Sound, a local radio station in Chelmsford hosted by Paul Dupree.
He specialises in promoting original music talent in and around Chelmsford. We owe a great debt of gratitude, not just to Paul, but to Ben Scott who did the excellent live recording and David Booth who did another amazing job on the post session sound mixing – thank you so much to them for their awesome contributions. Our 30-minute live session, featuring 7 songs, was recorded and filmed by the excellent Mark Barnard for all to enjoy on YouTube, and here it is !! Please have a listen, maybe leave a comment and please share far and wide.”
Track Listing
1 HOLDING ME DOWN (taster from the new album)
2 PHOTOSHOOT – 4.11
3 WANT TO BE IN LOVE – 8:16
4 NEXT BIG THING – 12:08
5 SEVERAL WAYS TO REPLACE A LOVER – 17:14
6 HOWS IT ALL COME TO THIS – 21:16
7 WEATHERMAN – 24:56
Live Session :
With only 3 songs left to complete our album, we are thrilled to be working with a talented choirmaster to add a full choir to two of the tracks. I scored the choir parts Saturday and we’re frantically exchanging diary dates to get this recorded. Won’t be long now until release, we can’t wait. And looking ahead to summer, we are gearing up for a band workshop, song writing workshop and live album recording at the Maldon Music Festival. This will be held on last 2 weeks of June and first 2 weeks of July.
Keep an eye out for ticket releases for these events, especially if you want to be in the audience of a live album recording !! The last album was recorded in Moscow. We have been favourably compared to Mark Knopfler, JJ Cale and Chris Rea. It’s Americana style and each album has been critically acclaimed. I have 6 nominations for best song or album of the year in the British Blues Scene.”
We are thrilled to announce that we are 75% through recording our next album! In the next few months, we’ll be writing the additional 4 tracks needed to complete it. We’re confident that this will be one of our best albums yet, showcasing a diverse and intriguing set of songs. The album is being produced and recorded by our good friend, the very talented, David Booth.
We’re continuing our commitment to grassroots, self-organized gigs and have 4 shows lined up. These events will feature local acts either supporting us or sharing the headline. All the bands will be playing original songs, offering a unique opportunity to discover new talent. Don’t wait 5 years to see tribute bands of these people – come and enjoy the music now at the intimate and fantastic Bark Café at Madison Heights Park drive Maldon.
Who is Richard Townend?
“Rich T was a professional musician graduating from Leeds College of Music in 1986 where he studied guitar and composition. Leeds was one of the only colleges, at that time in the UK, which specialized in a degree in Light Music. This led Richard to play with and tour with TV stars of that time such as Ronnie Corbett, Charlie Drake, Les Denis , Dana, The Platters and Tony Christie to name but a few. When he moved to London in the late eighties, he decided to leave the professional music field and play for fun after becoming disillusioned with the professional music scene.
Soon the fun dried up and he hung his guitar up for good when he moved to Essex in 2001. Later in that decade he was inspired (after watching a jam session at the Bewick Suite in Maldon Essex) to start to play again. He got his guitars out of hock, formed the Boss Cats, and gigged as a hard rocking blues trio in the style of Stevie Ray Vaughn; later to morph into the cool sound of the Mighty Boss cats in a more relaxed incarnation.
In 2011 he decided to write and record in a more serious nature so far culminating in 12 album releases in the period Jan 2011 – May 2020 with an 13th one being currently worked on. He also creates videos for these album songs which can be found on his youtube channel. There are over 100 of these ; they also appear on his website.
The albums have received critical acclaim and have a contemporary eclectic feel to them, mixing his Blues, Jazz, Country and many other musical influences. He has been nominated 6 times for his songs in the British Blues Awards for original song or album in 2012,13, 14 & 15, 16 and 18.
Since 2011 he has played nationally and internationally with his band and solo. He has also run numerous song writing workshops. He is often called a prolific writer having recorded over 120 songs in the last 9 years – and written well over 250. He is favourably compared to JJ Cale, Chris Rea and Dire Straits.”
The Richard Townend Band
I have a covers band – The Richard Townend Band – “I keep a 3 piece covers band running , playing Americana RnB covering Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Clapton, Santana, Dire Straits, BB King, Lou Reed, Creedence Clearwater, Police – Guitar orientated classic songs” – can expand to 5 piece. Example of a cover live (this was recorded in Moscow).
Sample set list: Forever Man, Sultans Of Swing, Black Magic Woman, Europa, Scutt Buttlin, Pride And Joy, Mary Had A Little Lamb, Cocaine, Bad Moon Rising.
Richard Townend Solo
I play solo – Richard Townend Solo – guitar and vocal – Original or Covers in the same vain as above using a various selection of acoustics, resonators, and electrics. It’s a good show and I have played many Festivals including, Ealing, Hebden Bridge, Colne, Shetland, Orkney, Dereham, Chelmsford, Newark, Uckfield to name a few.
Testaments:
“It’s hard not to view Townend as a sort of latter day Mark Knopfler. His lyricism and fretwork both share echoes of the former Dire Straits leader ” Elmore Magazine New York.
“Always working on musical projects, he seems to have incredible energy and a wonderful grasp on blues and light rockbased modern music ” Blues Matters.
“Melancholic, relaxed and enthralling: Richard Townend is a fascinating songwriter in the world of Blues. With The MightyBosscats he has a band on the side that make his songs prime examples of contemporary blues ….” Wasser-Prada.de.
“There’s no denying that Townend uses his music and his words to create almost visual storytelling” Americana UK.”
We’ve been hard at work writing and recording our new album, set to be released in the later part of quarter 1 in 2025. With four songs already completed, we’re excited to have the very talented David Booth on board again as our producer. Let’s fill the following venues with like-minded, forward-thinking music lovers!
24th May THE MIGHTY BOSSCATS & BAZUKER
https://wegottickets.com/event/643955
21st June THE MBC Acoustic & ASH CARR
https://wegottickets.com/event/643957
Get your tickets now !!
Check out the LATEST NEWS for more info on what’s happening currently with Richard and the Mighty Bosscats.
Shows 2025
SOLO GIGS
3rd May – Tasha’s artisan Market 10.30 pm
29th Jun – Tasha’s artisan Market 10.30 pm
12th Jul – Barry’s Barn
23rd Jul – Little Green Dragon Enfield 7.30 – 9.30pm
3rd Dec – Little Green Dragon Enfield 7.30 – 9.30pm