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CBS 42
American folk-rock band Happy Landing bringing jams and jumpsuits to Avondale this summer
By Emery Akin,
16 days ago
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — They call themselves “five college friends on a never-ending road trip.” In June, that road trip will bring the band, Happy Landing, to Birmingham.
Happy Landing first began to take shape four years ago in Oxford, Mississippi, on the Ole Miss campus.
From left to right: Wilson Moyer, Keegan Christensen, Matty Hendley, Jacob Christensen and Andrew Gardner. (Credit: Taylor Flynn)
Matty Hendley, the lead vocalist of the band and acoustic guitar player, said he began to put out music and the members began to fill in: Keegan Christensen on the keys, Andrew Gardner on the fiddle, Wilson Moyer on bass and Jacob Christensen on drums. Keegan, Andrew and Wilson additionally provide vocals on the songs.
The group who has inspired me probably the most … (is) probably The Lumineers, specifically Wesley Schultz from The Lumineers. I just think I’ve learned so much through him about songwriting and songwriters because he talks a lot about his influences … And he has taught me about them and just how to craft a story and a song. I think his method is, ‘How can you say it without saying it?’
Matty Hendley, Lead Vocalist and Acoustic Guitarist
Once Matty and Jacob graduated, Keegan, Andrew and Wilson finished school in Oxford and joined the two graduates in Nashville where the band continued playing, recording and releasing music under the name “Happy Landing.”
“My grandfather would tell us these stories about jumping out of airplanes and apparently they would say, ‘I hope you have a happy landing,’” Matty said. “He has this land in southeast Missouri where my mother grew up and he named it ‘Happy Landing’ as a place for his family to have a happy landing.
“I’ve been going there every fourth of July since I was little, and we have a very musical family … So that was the first place I played music in front of people and then I felt like it had to be a band name one day,” said Matty.
With over 109,000 monthly listeners on Spotify today, Happy Landing continues to bring the American folk-rock genre to a new level with engaging live performances – featuring matching jumpsuits inspired in part by Devo’s performances – and original songs that blend southern rock, punk and folk.
“My first concert experience was my dad taking me to see Devo and Blondie in Indiana … And Devo has always ruled, in part because they do stuff like all wear matching jumpsuits on stage, which is kind of the vibe we ride on still today … Their show and the showmanship they put on, combined with the weird, powerful inspiration of their music and all the crazy stuff they have going on is the kind of thing I would like to see us carry on a little bit of that spirit.”
Wilson Moyer, Bass
In 2020, the band dropped two singles, followed by two more in 2021.
Then, in 2022, they released their first EP: “HAPPY LANDING,” which featured “October,” the band’s number-one most streamed song on Spotify to this day.
During the past four years, they have toured with The 502’s, Judah & the Lion, and The Head and The Heart.
I really look up to The Head and the Heart. I remember when we played some shows with them; they’ve been around for a while and they’ve been such an important influence on our genre, that to be able to see how they sustain growth and have stayed relevant and are still making music. They’ve been able to keep at it and keep producing good music and playing shows, which is I think what we would want to do.
Keegan Christensen, Keys
Most recently, the band released “Let Me Out.”
“It has jumped to our second most popular song,” Matty said. “And I think that’s cool for us to realize that we’re still … scratching that itch, if you will, for our fans. We’re not making music that’s completely different from four years ago, that is foreign to (our fans). There’s a connecting thread.”
Coming off of a performance in South Carolina Thursday, Happy Landing will take the stage at the Lovin’ Life Music Fest in Charlotte, North Carolina , Saturday. The band will perform the same day as Stevie Nicks, Maggie Rogers, Young the Giant, The Fray and more.
“I’m going to rub elbows with Stevie, and we’re going to get the lowdown … on what happened to Fleetwood Mac,” Andrew joked.
“I still feel like a kid, so to be up there with people that I’ve admired, and that my parents have admired, that’s crazy,” he added. “It feels like hard work paid off.”
Andrew said Happy Landing is excited to be a part of the “next wave” of music and to contribute to this generation’s sound.
I’m not the biggest Talking Heads fan of all time, but I love their music and I think David Byrne specifically is such an interesting character and such a beautiful chapter in American music history. I always find him really inspiring … I find myself leaning back and thinking about his crazy dance moves … I feel like it helps inform how I interact with people on stage and even maybe playing music live.
Andrew Gardner, Fiddle
“I think we’re all very proud of and happy with the direction that things are going,” Wilson said. “I think we all feel individually like we’ve grown a lot and become stronger as musicians.
“We’ve grown together as a unit, like our synergy is just much better both on stage and in the studio. So, all this stuff that we work on, we’re very proud of and we believe in.”
The band has even made plans for next year, when Happy Landing will be taking to the seas to perform at Rock the Boat in January, alongside Walk the Moon, Echosmith, American Authors and others.
“A lot of these bands, I remember listening to them a while ago before we even did music; I had seen Echosmith open for Twenty-One Pilots in 2015 or 2016,” Keegan said. “It’s funny because I was a teenager then and now I’m in music and I get to be performing on the same stage as them.”
When asked what is continuing to inspire their music, Jacob had one man in mind: Brian Jordan Alvarez.
“I think as a band, Brian Jordan Alvarez is our biggest influence,” Mattty added.
Alvarez is an actor, best known for his roles in Will & Grace, Jane the Virgin and M3GAN.
I remember one of my first concerts I went to, I went to go see New Math in Charlotte and Darren King is the drummer. I would say he’s a lot of people’s inspiration; He’s just kind of a legend in the drumming community. He would come on stage, and he would gaff tape his headphones to his head and just lose his mind. That was always really inspiring to me.
Jacob Christensen, Drums
When asked what brings them to Birmingham, the band members threw out a few different answers – some serious, some joking – which included food, museums, libraries and, of course, “the steel.”
“To be honest, Birmingham should be a really great scene for us and our music,” Matty said. “It seems like this show is selling well and I think it’ll sell out.”
The show will take place at The Upstairs at Avondale on Friday, June 7, at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and available for purchase here .
Fans and fans-to-be can also look forward to hearing new music soon with the release of another single, “Lose the Gun,” on May 17. To pre-save the song, click here .
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