Steve Ripley: Part 7 – Moving to The Farm

By the mid 2000s, Steve Ripley had taken the country music industry by storm with his band, The Tractors. Their self-titled debut album and the single “Baby Likes to Rock It” became the fastest-selling debut album from a country group to reach platinum status. The band’s success led to two Grammy Award nominations and the…

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The Grease Band: Shelter Records’ Unsung Rock Heroes

Shelter Record Artists: The Grease Band While the connection to Joe Cocker is nearly inseparable, The Grease Band was formed in the mid-1960s, with Chris Stainton on bass but who later switched to keyboards, Henry McCullough on lead guitar, Alan Spenner on bass, Bruce Rowland on drums, Neil Hubbard on rhythm and slide guitar, and…

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Tommy Lokey: Consummate Jazzman at The Church Studio

Although few in the current Tulsa music community would know his name, in his day Tommy Lokey was a local legend. Today, you can find a few 1970’s Shelter Records publicity photos of a seven-man funk band which included him. Tommy is the sole white guy, with the wild mane of dark hair and sprawling…

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GUEST BLOG: Rusty Russell’s Recording Studio Experience

The genesis of our project at The Church Studio was a bit different than most; four high school friends from Wichita (classes of ’73, ’74), and ’75) had spent years in the big music-center cities of Nashville & L.A. Between us, we’d toured with many “name” artists, recorded a great deal (as players and/or engineers),…

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