Prairie Sun co-owner, Mark "Mooka" Rennick, is a musician (bass player, primarily) who toured with Commander Cody's Billy C. Farlow in the late 1970s. After trying to balance life as a touring musician with that of a studio owner/producer, he left the road for his - at that time - garage-style studio near
Sonoma State University, which is what initially brought him to the area from his native Illinois. "I started with the Beach Boys' 'Clover' mixing desk and a 1-inch 8-track machine," recalls Rennick. "Then I got a 2-inch 16-track, and by 1979 I had bought a 24-track 2-inch machine from Wally Heider's Studio when they went out of business. So, 'Boom,' I'm in the studio business - because I had the hardware." In 1981, Mooka teamed up with chicken-ranch owner Clifton Buck-Kauffman and relocated Prairie Sun to his 12-acre farm. The studio became known as a residential recording facility, combining vintage analogue devices with the modern
digital recording technology. The studio evolved to become a complete audio destination: living areas, rehearsal space for pre-production, tracking/overdubbing rooms, and mixing/mastering suites. The sole permanent resident of Prairie Sun is studio cat Bubba Feats. ==Recording artists==