Easley McCain Recording
Easley McCain Recording is a Memphis, Tennessee recording studio known for working with many famous artists. It began in the late 1970s when Doug Easley built a small four‑track studio in the woods near the Wolf River bottoms, recording blues musicians and local rock.
In the early 1980s, Easley ran "Easley Recording" out of a hand-built garage studio behind his home near the University of Memphis. Tav Falco's Panther Burns recorded there, and Alex Chilton produced an album for The Gories during this period.
By 1990, Easley teamed up with Davis McCain and moved to a larger midtown Memphis facility. The new site was originally built in 1967 as "the Onyx" for Don Crews, who had worked with Chips Moman at American Sound Studios. With McCain, the studio began to attract artists from outside Memphis in the early 1990s, as indie bands like Pavement, Sonic Youth, and Come recorded there after The Grifters spread the word.
In 2001, the White Stripes became clients, which led to a Loretta Lynn album produced by Jack White and mixed there by Stuart Sikes. Other artists who recorded at the studio include Townes Van Zandt, Jeff Buckley, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Guided by Voices, Lydia Lunch, Box Tops, Rufus Thomas, Wilco, Cat Power, Modest Mouse, Kim Deal with The Amps, and The Bamboozlers (precursors to Ingram Hill), among many others.
On March 2, 2005, a fire damaged the lobby and control room. After four years of inactivity, Easley McCain Recording reopened in 2009 at a brand new Memphis location. Most of the vintage analog gear survived, and Doug Easley returned to engineering, mixing, and producing full-time. Recent clients include The Shakedown, Ben Nichols (Lucero), Harlan T Bobo, Bosco Delrey, Viva L’American Death Ray, and The Magic Kids, along with various film score projects.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:04 (CET).