Richard playing in Moscow at the House of Artists
Richard playing his national resolectric
strat in hand in Shetland
Richard playing in Moscow at the House of Artists
& the mighty bosscats
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 13 album releases in the period Jan 2011 – September 2021. He also creates videos for these album songs which can be found on his you tube channel www.youtube.com/themightybosscats. There are over 90 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 12 years – and written well over 300.
He is favorably compared to JJ Cale, Chris Rea and Dire Straits.
What the Magazines Say
"There's no denying that Townend uses his music and his words to create almost visual story telling" - Americana UK
"Always working on musical projects, he seems to have incredible energy and a wonderful grasp on blues and light rockbased modern music " - Blues Matters UK
"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
“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
"Three albums show some of the best of the modern age –three albums from out of nowhere, created by musicians for the love of it. ............... Really fine music ........." - Blues Matters
Live Studio Sessions Click on image to view sessions
