“With the newest folk revival well upon us, it’s rare that any of it is actually good, and it’s even rarer to find it along with the heart and soul of Matt Townsend and the Wonder of the World" -Big Takeover Magazine "This young man has to be one of my all time favorites. Lately I've found a few. But Matt has something that I think everyone's been looking for. Truth, beauty, peace, and enlightenment in his songs. They are mesmerizing. This is one album I can't stop listening to." -Nashville Music Guide “A pure and heartfelt debut, Matt Townsend and The Wonder of the World is a delightful LP and a band to keep an eye on" -Hear Magazine “Matt Townsend and The Wonder of the World are captivating, mysterious and thought-provoking.” -Examiner.com "The more stripped back moments on the album are particularly memorable – ‘Desire Like A Lion’ is a very Dylanesque acoustic number, fragile, confident, and rich in tone, while ‘The Garden Where The Grass Forever Grows’ brings that harmonica back in full force to create a sumptuous piece of folk-country." -Skope Magazine "With a confessional bent and sophisticated observational metaphors, he often connects universally while remaining personally vulnerable — a rare feat for a young songwriter...his debut is roundly impressive and marks this local songwriter as one who bears watching" - Dan Bolles, 7Days Matt Townsend and The Wonder of the World formed in 2014 with the creation of singer/songwriter Matt Townsend's debut LP "Matt Townsend and the Wonder of the World" (June 2014; Eternal Mind Records). Matt Townsend (b.1987) began writing songs in secret around 2008 for no purpose other than to satisfy an insatiable need to write them. Though the songs seemingly appeared out of nothing, in the years since he has written hundreds of compositions and began performing in 2010. Initially busking on the streets of Burlington, VT and playing local coffeehouses, he soon began gracing the stages of clubs and venues around the Burlington area. His first solo EP "What Light Shall Be" was released in November 2012. He has since performed on stages in Vermont, Boston, Ireland, Western North Carolina more. Drawing influence from the songwriting wells of Bob Dylan, Neutral Milk Hotel, Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young, William Blake, and many many more, Townsend's songs "connect universally while remaining personally vulnerable". Inspired by strange dreams and visions, the precarious beauty of human life, and the mysterious forces of the Universe, Matt Townsend's songs emerge out of the folk tradition, rock and roll and more, with a lyrical focus from the view-point of the soul. His crowd-funded debut LP with a full-band entitled "Matt Townsend and The Wonder of the World" is due for release on Eternal Mind Records in June 2014. Matt Townsend now lives in Asheville, NC by way of Burlington, VT.