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| Ocean Way Nashville | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ocean Way Nashville |
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
| Opened | 1996 |
| Founder | Allen Sides |
| Notable alumni | Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Faith Hill |
Ocean Way Nashville is a commercial recording studio located in Nashville, Tennessee that served as a major facility for country music, rock music, pop music, gospel music, and film scoring sessions. Founded by Allen Sides as part of a network that included Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles) and Ocean Way Studios (Hollywood), the Nashville studio became a destination for artists, producers, and engineers associated with Music Row (Nashville), Capitol Records Nashville, and independent labels. The studio is known for a combination of vintage gear, custom acoustics, and high-profile clientele from Sony Music Nashville, Universal Music Group Nashville, and Warner Music Nashville.
Ocean Way Nashville opened in 1996 when Allen Sides expanded the Ocean Way brand into Nashville. The facility occupied a converted commercial building near Music Row (Nashville), attracting sessions from major artists tied to Curb Records, Big Machine Records, Arista Nashville, and MCA Nashville. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s the studio hosted producers and engineers such as Emory Gordy Jr., Tony Brown, Paul Worley, Dann Huff, and Garth Fundis. The studio's timeline intersected with major industry events including the rise of Digital Audio Workstation producers like T Bone Burnett collaborators and the emergence of artists affiliated with Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Ownership and operational shifts paralleled movements in the recording industry involving Concord Music, Rounder Records, and independent production companies.
Ocean Way Nashville comprised multiple tracking rooms, isolation booths, and a large live room designed for ensemble recordings, orchestral sessions, and overdubs for session musicians who also worked at Blackbird Studio, The Sound Emporium, and Dark Horse Recording Studio. The live room's dimensions and variable acoustic treatments were influenced by designs from Leslie Ann Jones collaborators and acoustic consultants who had worked on facilities like Capitol Studios and Sun Studio. Control rooms housed console furniture compatible with large-format consoles used by engineers like Chris Lord-Alge and Bob Clearmountain, and the layout supported film scoring clients connected to Nashville Film Festival projects and television music production for CBS and ABC.
The studio offered a hybrid signal chain featuring vintage analog consoles, outboard gear, and contemporary digital systems such as Pro Tools setups used by engineers from The Recording Academy and session personnel associated with Musician's Hall of Fame and Museum. Equipment inventories included classic microphone collections with models from Neumann, AKG, and Telefunken, preamplifiers from API and Neve, equalizers from SSL and Neve Electronics, compressors from Urei and Universal Audio, and tape machines from Studer. Integration with sample libraries and orchestral libraries commonly used by composers linked to Vanderbilt University film scoring programs enabled hybrid scoring sessions for clients tied to Warner Bros. Pictures and independent film companies.
Ocean Way Nashville hosted sessions for artists and projects spanning Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Lady A, Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson, Rodney Crowell, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Hunter Hayes, Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell, The Chicks, Rascal Flatts, Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eagles members on session work, and film composers connected to John Williams-style orchestration for regional projects. Producers who recorded landmark albums there include Rick Rubin, Max Martin-affiliated pop producers, and country producers such as Frank Rogers and Nathan Chapman. Several recordings tracked at the studio received major-label releases on Columbia Records Nashville, Capitol Records, and Big Machine Records.
Projects recorded at Ocean Way Nashville have been associated with awards and nominations from Grammy Awards, Country Music Association Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, Tony Awards-adjacent musicals recording sessions, and various chart-topping placements on Billboard (magazine). Engineers and producers who worked at the studio have earned recognition from The Recording Academy, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibitions, and industry ceremonies held at venues such as Ryman Auditorium and Bridgestone Arena.
Originally established by Allen Sides, the studio's ownership and management involved partnerships with local Nashville entrepreneurs, production companies, and studio managers drawing talent from Nashville Predators-area networks and music industry executives from Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and independent management firms. Studio management teams included prominent studio managers and chief engineers who had backgrounds at Ocean Way Recording (Los Angeles), Blackbird Studio, and The Tracking Room, coordinating bookings for major labels, independent labels, and film/TV projects associated with CBS, NBC, and streaming platforms.
Category:Recording studios in Tennessee