Hanford Flyover are a British-American band who deftly mix elements of psychedelia, rock, electronica and folk to create a unique sound, interwoven with deep lyrical content.
Band members are Josh Bowler from the UK, and Holly Bowler, who was born and raised in Kentucky, USA.
Josh, a multi-instrumentalist, takes his influences from artists of the 60s through to the 90s. Holly’s background was immersed in folk, blues, rock, gospel and bluegrass. It is the combination of these diverse influences that shaped her vocal styles and laid the foundation that gives HF a unique and strong identity.
In 2018, after a 20-year sabbatical from professional music, Josh found new inspiration within Buddhist philosophy and began the Hanford Flyover project. He found it striking how much of this ancient philosophy has been ‘re-languaged’ into modern psychological talking therapies and felt compelled to express musically some of the deep spiritual insights it reveals.
Whilst taking inspiration from the deep learning found within Buddhist philosophical spiritual teachings, their music does not align to any religion. Hanford Flyover strive to promote spiritual development as a way to heal and grow on a personal, community and global level.
“We use music as a way to explore some of the core spiritual philosophical questions and answers about the most fundamental human truths”.
Their first album ‘FreeFall’ was digitally released in late 2018 and has had over 10,000 downloads. The album includes explorations on impermanence, attachment, how we easily become distracted from our true nature and how we might rediscover it. Reviewers depicted it as:
“Deep and meaningful, introspective, proverbial and soothing, this music puts you in touch with your soul. Be still and listen deeply: let yourself unwind”
“A beautiful, rich, full sound, and what beautiful laid-back moods where splendidly soothing, mesmerizing female vocals are poured over a foundation of classic folk prog with a psych edge, featuring great musicianship, and compelling song writing.”
Hanford Flyover followed the release of FreeFall with a 4 track EP entitled ‘All We Have is Now’. With an ever-evolving musical style, the songs on the EP again delved into the spiritual aspects of what it is to be. The EP has been described as:
“A deep river of thematic songs with an irresistibly strong, yet gentle, pull. The lush and trippy instrumentals that complement Holly’s seductively smooth, sage, and down to earth voice add very rich, visual textures. Daydream inducing, for sure. Wonderfully so! It’s so easy to get lost/found in this mesmerizing flow!”
During the lockdown of 2020, Josh decided to take a different approach to producing music. On Midsummer’s Day 2021, Hanford Flyover released an album through the Fruits de Mer Record label entitled ‘Hanford Tape Sessions’, which was recorded entirely on vintage, four-track tape recorders.
The album continues Hanford Flyover’s love for exploring musical styles, and the songs continue to explore aspects of existence and spiritual philosophy as a potential means to illuminate the darker, often hidden corners of our minds.
One reviewer wrote:
“A lovely collection of tracks well produced with that wonderful nostalgic sound which is missing a lot of times in new music. Excellent for repeat listening.”
All vinyl copies of Hanford Tape Sessions sold out on pre-order but a few CDs are still available.
In March 2022, Hanford Flyover released a new 4 track EP, ‘X to the N’, which was also released as a 7” single (sold out) on the Fruits de Mer record label.
“I love their exploratory offerings of sound.”
In August 2022, Hanford Flyover released a single ‘Shadows on the Sun’ as a prelude to a forthcoming album. The song is a study on emptiness of thought form, in that once the thinking mind quiets, within the apparent ‘emptiness’ there is the entire universe for awareness to perceive.
The song has received a lot of attention from BBC radio and has been picked up by numerous radio stations globally.
The band have a strong international following and their music can be found on rotation on many global internet and terrestrial radio stations.
Hanford Flyover’s music is available to stream and download through all the major music streaming services. Physical copies of their music are available through their Bandcamp website (see links below).
