Mark Lee Townsend is an American multi-instrumentalist and record producer best known as

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

for the

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band

dc Talk DC Talk (stylized as dc Talk) is a Christian hip hop, Christian rap and Christian rock, rock trio. The group was formed at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by tobyMac, Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max, Kevin Max Smith ...

and as the long-time producer for Christian rock band

Relient K Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman Board Message during the band members' third year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after ...

. Townsend's career started as a member, singer, guitarist and songwriter for the pop and Christian band Bash 'N The Code from 1986 through 1991. He played with dcTalk from 1996 until their hiatus in 2001. In between dcTalk tours, he was a lead guitarist for the Christian artist Jennifer Knapp. He creatively added more life to her already well-written songs. At the Cornerstone Festival 2000, he appeared doing an acoustic act where he ended his show with a rendition of Queen's "

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...

". During his time with dcTalk, he and other members of the band formed the band, Zilch, which would become the band

Sonicflood Sonicflood (sometimes stylized as SONICFLOOd) is an American contemporary worship music band from Nashville, Tennessee, that has been touted as "The Fathers of the Modern Worship Movement." The group took the name "Sonicflood", a reference to a l ...

, and made the album "Platinum" for Gotee Records. After dc Talk went on an extended hiatus, Townsend took to producing. He produced ''Jennifer Knapp Live'' in 2006, as well as producing and engineering two full-length albums for the Christian rock band The Wedding. He also produced The O.C. Supertones' 2004 album ''The Revenge of the Supertones''. He has also worked with the Christian rock band

as a producer, working on every album by the group except for ''

Collapsible Lung ''Collapsible Lung'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Relient K. To date, it is their only album not to be produced or co-produced by Mark Lee Townsend. Background and production In May 2012, the group posted that they were wor ...

'' (2013). Townsend and Relient K have been quoted as being like family, as Relient K guitarist

Matt Hoopes Matthew "Matt" Ryan Hoopes is an American musician, guitarist, singer, and songwriter, most known as the lead guitarist of Relient K. Hoopes has played lead guitar and provided backing vocals for Relient K since 1998 and is one of two constant m ...

was married (now divorced) to Townsend's daughter. Townsend has been a Gibson guitar endorser and was featured in the article below.

A sideman's greatest asset is the chameleon-like ability to adapt to a variety of musical genres as well as imitate the signature sounds of other players. On the other hand, a session player has truly reached the top of the profession when he's in demand to add his own signature sound to a recording or live tour.

In May 2006, Townsend started his own music label called Brave New World Records. He initially signed two Christian Rock artists ( The Wedding and

Deas Vail Deas Vail () was an alternative rock band whose lyrics are influenced by their members' Christian faith. The band's name is a combination of Latin and old French, roughly translated as "humble servant of God." Their eponymous third full-length ...

) and produced initial recordings for them, but the label seems to have gone into hiatus as the official website has not been updated since 2009. In 2011 he was reportedly producing The Lasting Hope's debut EP ''Sunsets and Second Chances''. Deas Vail has gone on to release new music via Relient K's label Mono vs. Stereo Records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Mark Living people American performers of Christian music Year of birth missing (living people)