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Image 1 of 2: Formerly Church of the Advent, Episcopal, Ocean Way Nashville is an active recording studio owned and operated by Belmont University. Image courtesy of MHCF.
Formerly Church of the Advent, Episcopal, Ocean Way Nashville is an active recording studio owned and operated by Belmont University. Image courtesy of MHCF.
Interior of Ocean Way Nashville Studio A, formerly the church’s chapel. Image courtesy of Belmont University.

Formerly Church of the Advent, Episcopal, Ocean Way Nashville is an active recording studio owned and operated by Belmont University. Image courtesy of MHCF.

Music Row Neighborhood

Stop 12 of 25

Ocean Way Nashville Studios

Hello, this is Michael Janas and we are standing inside Ocean Way Nashville’s Studio A. This beautiful stone building may look like an active church, but it is actually an operational recording studio called Ocean Way Nashville. It was built as an Episcopal church and completed in 1911. The adjacent two-story stone memorial hall was completed in 1915.

Ocean Way Nashville was founded in 1996 by Gary Belz and Allen Sides as a commercial recording studio, and in 2001 it was purchased by Belmont University. The studio is operated as both a commercial studio and as a teaching facility, with students conducting classes in one studio while commercial sessions take place in another. The studio's commercial clientele include popular artists such as Kenny Chesney, The Raconteurs, Sheryl Crow, Kings of Leon, and Dan + Shay. The studio is also known as a top orchestral scoring location and has recorded music for films, television, and video games including "Call of Duty," “Spiderman" and “Fortnite.”

Facing Ocean Way Nashville Studios, turn RIGHT and continue walking west up Seventeenth Avenue. When you reach Horton Avenue, you will see the building complex once owned by the Catholic Church, known as Little Sisters of the Poor. You will view this stop from across the street.

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Tour Stops
1

Owen Bradley Park, Musica Statue, Buddy Killen Circle

1 Music Square East at Division Street

2

ASCAP and Sony Music

2 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203

3

Tree Publishing, Former Fire Hall No. 7

16 Music Square West, Nashville, TN

4

RCA Studio B

1611 Roy Acuff Place, Nashville, TN 37203

5

Carnival Music and Mural

24 Music Square West, Number 2, Nashville TN

6

RCA Studio A

30 Music Square West, Number 100, Nashville, TN 37203

7

Word Entertainment

25 Music Square West, Nashville, TN

8

Starstruck Studios

40 Music Square West, Nashville TN

9

iHeartMedia

55 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203

10

Quadrafonic or Quad Studios, Round Hill Music

1802 Grand Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212

11

Scarritt Bennett Center

1027 Eighteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

12

Ocean Way Nashville Studios

1200 Seventeenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

13

Little Sisters of the Poor, now Vanderbilt University

1400 Eighteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203

14

Allentown Studios, formerly Jack’s Tracks

1308 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

15

PLA Media

1303 Sixteenth Avenue South A, Nashville, TN 37212

16

Big Machine Records

1219 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

17

House of David

1205 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

18

Landmark Community Bank, formerly CBS Songs and Sony Music

1013 Sixteenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212

19

Belmont Church

68 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

20

Curb College, Quonset Hut, and Columbia Records

34 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

21

SESAC and Country Music Association (CMA)

35 Music Square East, Nashville TN

22

Decca Records

27 Music Square East, Nashville, Tennessee 37203

23

Warner Music and Warner Production

21 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

24

BMI and Frances Preston

10 Music Square East Nashville, TN 37203

25

Spence Manor Motor Hotel and Webb Pierce Guitar Swimming Pool

11 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203

Full Record & Citation
Title Ocean Way Studios
Creator Nashville Historical Foundation
Author Amelia Smith, Belmont Student; October, 2018
Date 1911; 1974; 1996; 2001
Address 1200 Seventeenth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212
Description Allen Sides founded Ocean Way Studios in Santa Monica, California in 1974. In 1996, Sides and partner Gary Belz expanded the company to Nashville, purchasing the Gothic Revival Seventh-Day Adventist Church built in 1911. The church had previously been the headquarters of the Tony Alamo Christian Industries. The building's Gothic Revival architecture gave it a unique aesthetic, and the sanctuary has been converted into a recording studio large enough to hold a full orchestra. Artists such as Willie Nelson (1933-), Bob Seger (1945-), Sheryl Crow (1962-), and Christina Aguilera (1980-) have recorded there. In 2001, Belmont University purchased the Ocean Way building with a grant given to them by musician Mike Curb. The studio is still operated as a commercial space, but Belmont students can also use the space as a hands-on recording studio classroom.
Type Building
Coverage Area 3
Source Allen Sides, founder; Robert Sharp, architect
Contributor Tony Alamo; Gary Belz
Subject Architecture; Businesses; Entertainment; Industry; Music; Neighborhoods; New Nashville; New South; Post-World War II; Religion
Keywords Adaptive Reuse, Buildings, Churches, Gothic Revival, Music Industry, Music Row, Recording Studios, Seventh-Day Adventists, Ocean Way Studios
Rights CC BY-NC 4.0
Playback speed 1x
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