About this site

Josh Hanna was born in Surrey, England. His lineage includes Romanian Gypsy, south Georgian (Russia), and Ukranian. At the age of fifteeen he joined the Navy and travelled the world for six years as a seaman. When his Navy tour ended, Hanna returned home to England and began his career as a performer, specializing in vocals and guitar. Hanna worked extensively as a solo act, as well as with various orchestras and bands.

In December 1966, he had hit the British charts at number nine with a tune called, "Sweet to My Soul," recorded on the Decca label. Hanna worked the British club circuits with such people as Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, and Jerry Dawsey (Engelbert Humperdink). Hanna became the leader of a band that toured England extensively in the '60's, called "Basic Truth." In 1973-74 he once again set sail as a ship's musician with the Pacific Orient Lines.

In 1975, Hanna came to the United States. He toured from New York to Florida to New Orleans as a short stint before settling into Hollywood, California. There, he hit the studio session scene and also taught vocal and guitar while still writing and performing his own music in numerous clubs. Also during this time, in 1983, he wrote the theme, "Olympiad," for the 1984 Olympic Games which was used on the air repeatedly in promoting the games. He learned to play "The Stick" under the wing of its inventor, Emmett Chapman, and even appeared on Chapman's first album, "Parallel Galaxy" (Backyard Records, 1985).

In 1986, Hanna took to the open road, where he lived for the next six years in a trailer and motor home, respectively, travelling extensively throughout the US, opening for acts such as Ray Charles, Tower of Power, Tania Maria, Freddie Hubbard and Leon Redbone. At that time, he made a transition from electric to acoustic instruments.

In 1992, Hanna moved to Nambe, New Mexico, and set up Redman Dream Trees (RDT) recording studios. Here, he records and composes while still remaining active on the national and international jazz festival circuits, as well as occasionally appearing locally in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Taos.