Godfrey Townsend is an American guitarist from New York. He has been the lead guitarist for The Yardbirds since 2018.
Townsend was born in New York City, to parents who were trained in opera singing.[1] Townsend took lessons on how to play the piano when he was seven, and formed his first band, Alexis, when he was seventeen.[2] He turned professional in the 1990s, and spent thee months with artists as Mitch Ryder, Spencer Davis, Joey Molland of Badfinger, Merrilee Rush, Pat Upton of Spiral Starecase, Sal Valentino of Beau Brummels, Cub Koda from Brownsville Station, Dennis Yost of The Classics IV, Len Barry of the Dovells and Tiny Tim.
Townsend has also performed for Jack Bruce and Dave Mason. He was a member of The John Entwistle Band, replacing Mark Hitt. He was also in Kenny Vance and the Planotones, and was in Alan Parsons' touring band from 2001 to 2009.[3] [4] Godfrey was in The Association in 2012, and was a guitarist for many 1960s summer tours, backing The Turtles, The Buckinghams, The Grass Roots, Mark Lindsay, Felix Cavaliere, Gary Wright, Rick Derringer, and Mark Farner.[5] In July 2018, Godfrey replaced Johnny A. as lead guitarist and backing vocalist for The Yardbirds.[6] [7]