HELLO FRIENDS, WELCOME TO THE CHURCH STUDIO
Where homegrown talent rocked the music world.
THE CHURCH STUDIO
And how it started
The historic church was turned into a recording studio and home office to Shelter Records in 1972. Under Leon Russell's leadership, the stone structure served as a creative workshop for songwriters, musicians, engineers, and singers to collaborate, learn, and inspire.
THE TULSA SOUND
Rockabilly, Country, Rock 'n' Roll, and Blues
Although they had different musical gifts, Leon Russell and fellow Oklahoman JJ Cale, are credited for developing the “Tulsa Sound". This genre is described by many to be a laid-back style of blues, country, and rock that helped shaped Southern-style rock-and-roll. The most notable, non-Okie— example of the Tulsa Sound is Eric Clapton. Others believe the "Tulsa Sound" is more of a brotherhood or collaboration of creatives that honor those musical pioneers that came before them.
PARTNER WITH THE CHURCH STUDIO MUSIC FOUNDATION
RECENT BLOG POSTS
Rock of Ages: Tracing the Roots of the Tulsa Sound
By JOHN WOOLEY As nearly as anyone can tell, the Tulsa area first started rocking to live local guys back in early 1956, when Gene Crose put together a little group and played the rockabilly tunes “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Baby, Let’s Play House” and “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” for the Cadet Capers show…
Rock of Ages: Making Waves
By JOHN WOOLEY MTV wasn’t even a gleam in an executive’s eye when Tulsa’s first wave of rock ‘n’ rollers hit. In fact, “Where the Action Is,” that fondly remembered Dick Clark-produced daily TV show, didn’t come along for almost a decade. Even the granddaddy of them all, Clark’s “American Bandstand,” didn’t go national until…
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