Happy Landing, a band created at Ole Miss in 2020, featuring Oxford High School 2016 graduate Andrew Gardner, is returning to Oxford during their tour to perform where it all began. They will play two nights at Proud Larry’s on Jan. 25 and 26.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Hendley expressed enthusiasm for returning to the band’s hometown. “Coming back to Oxford is always super special, and we are getting so excited,” Hendley said. “We are hoping to sell out both nights.” Along with the excitement comes nerves. Hendley always experiences some anxiety when returning to Oxford.
“I always come back worrying that none of the younger students will know who Happy Landing is, but there always ends up being a bunch of new faces at the shows, and we still keep selling out,” Hendley said. “I figure it will only keep growing as the band gets more popular since it’s our hometown.” Other than Hendley and Gardner, Happy Landing has three other members: Wilson Moyer, Keegan Christensen, and Jacob Christensen. The band formed when Hendley, Moyer, and Jacob Chris tensen were seniors while Gardner and Keegan Christensen were juniors at Ole Miss in 2020. “We were all students at Ole Miss and knew each other mutually,” Hendley said. “I was tired of doing the singer-songwriter thing, and I wanted to start a band.”
Before the other members had joined, Hendley already had an EP. He decided to record it in the studio and see what would happen.
“COVID had just hit, so it ended up being a
good time to record music while in quarantine,” Hendley said.
Hendley (along with his brother, sister-in-law, and Jacob Christensen) decided to have a backyard concert and play the new music as a release party.
“We got a noise complaint, and the cops came and shut the show down,” Hendley said. “It was pretty punk.”
Members slowly joined the band until it became the five of them. Hendley, Moyter, and Jacob Chris tensen graduated in 2021 and moved to Nashville, Tenn. while the others started their senior year.
“The whole band ended up moving to Nashville in 2022 when we got signed by a touring agency,” Hendley said.
Every member had decent job opportunities after graduation outside of the band, but they all knew they wouldn’t get a chance like this again.
“We had nothing tying us down,” Hendley said. “We all believed in the music, so we decided to just go for it with everything we had.”
The touring agency that signed Happy Landing wanted them to begin touring immediately. They went on tour over the summer of 2022.
“We opened for some bigger bands like The Head and The Heart, The 502’s, and Judah and the Lion,” Hendley said.
The band has brought challenges, but it brings excitement to the members’ lives. Happy Landing tours about six months a year. The band struggles with being away from home for a long time, but the members wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“We have gotten to travel literally everywhere across the U.S., coast to coast, which is something everybody seems to want to do after college,” Hendley said.
The members spend the other months of the year at home. While there, the members work in the service industry.
“It’s hard to keep a job with how much we travel,” Hendley said. “Hopefully we won’t need to worry about second jobs in the near future.”
Performing and spending time with some other band’s favorite artists has made every sacrifice worthwhile. These have been some of the special moments for Happy Landing.
“What’s also been special is playing our own headline shows and hearing people sing our lyrics in cities all around the country,” Hendley said.
Happy Landing is optimistic about the future.They look forward to what is to come in the next few years.
“We are excited to see what this next year holds for us,” Hendley said. “I hope to see a lot of Oxford folks at our shows in January.”
