Lee Townsend

From as far back as I can remember, I’ve been captivated by music. Not even any particular genre, just music in general. I’ve always liked what I like and just left everything else to exist where it is suited and appreciated. As a kid, my parents would listen to everything from The Who through to Nat King Cole with Paul Carrack, Pink Floyd, Dr Feelgood and Bruce Springsteen in between so I enjoyed ballads which told a story as much as big, powerful riffs. The first time I considered that music was something that I could do was after listening to the first two Oasis albums. Noel Gallagher’s songwriting is so simple yet blindingly effective and luckily for me, my dad had been in bands since way before I was born so I picked up a guitar at the age of 9 and started to plough my way through the Oasis back catalogue, closely followed by Stereophonics and Crowded House.

By the time 6 months had passed, I felt I could play to a sufficient level to perform live so along with my brother and a school friend, I formed my first band. We played locally to our home town of Buxworth in North West England between 1999 and the band’s last gig in 2002 and gained a fair amount of experience considering I was only 14 by the time the band split.

Between the conclusion of my first band and the forming of my second band, I spent some time improving my guitar playing skills so that when the time came to start playing live shows again, the overall sound had become much more powerful, despite still only being a 3 piece.

In 2005, with my brother still handling the drums and with the addition of my dad on bass, Not To Fall was born. We played in the same area as we had previously but gained a much stronger following to the point where we were packing local pubs to well above maximum capacity. Not To Fall was influenced heavily on the American Punk scene, which my brother and I had become fans of which I think was a critical point in my growth as a musician and my move to solo acoustic performances 5 years later. Still to this day, if I have a busy few weeks playing with a band, I crave the pressure of going it alone and being able to control the dynamics of a show with just one guitar and one voice.

Mid 2006 and the band was still going strong when I relocated to Spain with my family. The beauty of the band comprising my brother, father and myself was that Not To Fall could also relocate. We started from scratch with regards to local following and eventually built up a similar sized group of fans as we had in England before my brother moved back to the UK. This event obviously marked the end of Not To Fall.

The following that we’d built up in Spain wasn’t put to waste as they still very much wanted to be involved in the music scene that we’d helped to shape. My live shows as a solo artist began in 2010 solely because I wanted to play more and open up more opportunities, the south of Spain is home to many quirky bars which just don’t have the space for a live rock band. My decision to gig acoustically took advantage of this and my gig count soon surpassed that of any band I had been in. In fact, I played more than 100 live shows in 2013 including local venues, private events and some charity functions.

In August of the same year, I was asked to open up for The Bootleg Beatles’ show on the Costa del Sol. This was a particularly tempting offer given the calibre of the band in question. I mean… They supported Oasis! Of course, I accepted the offer even though the show was 4 days later and played in an outdoor arena with a capacity of 6000 people (granted, it wasn’t full but the experience opened my eyes to the possibilities as a solo artist).

During my time in Spain, I have also gained a good friend in Derrin Nauendorf, a highly acclaimed singer/songwriter based in the UK. He had played some local shows and eventually asked me to play support for him on a couple of occasions where we even ended up having a jam at the end of the night. Derrin’s effective songwriting and impressive work ethic have become a huge inspiration to me.

My musical influences are constantly changing from one day to the next. Particular favourites are Ed Sheeran, Ben Howard, Muse, Crowded House, Foo Fighters and the aforementioned Derrin Nauendorf but the music I listen to and take inspiration from is rarely limited. With each moment as a musician, I have gained valuable tips and experience which all go into my live performances and will continue to make their way into my music. I have a vast collection of musical ideas for songs with which I hope to complete my first album in the near future. I remain grateful to all who have supported me as I’ve gigged over the years and I hope to be able to do the same for many more years.