I am rooghly 30/50 miles from the stations I’m trying to pick up ...
You are definitely in the fringe reception area at 50 miles out. FM reception is basically limited to "line-of-sight," which is dictated in part by the curvature of the earth. But what broadcasters call HAAT (antenna Height Above Average Terrain) is also major factor so - depending on the radio station’s facilities - these stations may well be receivable in your location. Your odds of good reception improve if you can increase gain by using a directional antenna and increase its height.
As for so-called "HD radio," consider that in the US, it’s limited to just a tenth of the power of the analog signal. (There may be some slight exceptions to this, but it’s generally accurate.) So the contour of the HD reception area is much smaller than for the analog signal.