Sunset Club Records lives inside a house on the section of South Trenton Avenue in Tulsa known as Studio Row. It’s just a few doors down from Church Studio, famously established by Leon Russell in 1972, which still draws major names in music.
But Sunset Club is a haven for local rock and roll. It’s filled to the brim with cassettes, records, t-shirts and posters of bands that Tulsans can catch on any given weekend at the city’s music bars.
Trey Livingston came up with the name for the record label while he was incarcerated at Lawton Correctional Facility.
“In the pod that I lived in, there was a certain group of us who all had west-facing walls, and we were the only people who got to see the sunset every night. And as a joke, we just started calling ourselves the Sunset Club,” Livingston said.
While Livingston was still behind bars, his son Camden started producing cassette tapes for local Tulsa acts under the Sunset Club label. Meanwhile, Livingston designed the Sunset Club logo and made posters for the bands.
But even before Livingston got out of prison in 2023, the label was making a name for itself in Tulsa, according to local musician John Langdon, with the band, The Earslips.
“A lot of bands were releasing albums on tape through Sunset Club, and they’ve been doing that for years, and I’ve seen those pop up in local record stores, and then also, the other side of it, was seeing Trey’s poster art for shows,” Langdon said.
Livingston now runs Sunset Club out of the house on South Trenton. He shares the space with his wife Wendy Jason, who runs a gallery, JustArts, that features artwork made by incarcerated people.
“Being on Studio Row with Church Studio right there, Studio Records right there, with The Hummingbird co-op right there — just in a very creative, vibrant, artsy neighborhood — it just felt perfect,” Jason said.
Last month, they celebrated the grand opening of Sunset Club in the brick-and-mortar space with live music from local acts.
Sunset Club has also produced special projects for artists in the Tulsa music scene. Recently, the label put out a live vinyl pressing in partnership with Tulsa’s Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture.
“For so many of those musicians, that might be the only time they ever end up on a piece of vinyl in their life, and that’s super cool, you know?” said Livingston. “That’s an annual thing that we’re going to be able to [do] – just keep giving opportunities out to folks.”
Liz Cousins, a local photographer who’s followed Tulsa bands since the ‘90s, said Sunset Club is needed in the city.
“All of the musicians and artists that have built up this scene need attention,” Cousins said, “and so now we’ve got even all of these international tourists coming to the Church Studio, so hopefully they’ll get a taste of our local scene.”
And that local scene gets a boost from Sunset Club Records and its new home, says Langdon.
“This day and age, you can release things on the internet and spread it far and wide around the world, but having a strong foundation at home is so important,” Langdon said. “And places like this that are bringing groups together and artists together just helps to foster that sense of community.”
Now that he has this space on Studio Row, Livingston hopes it will become a community fixture.
“I think the community will really jump in, embrace it, take advantage of it,” he said. “It’s just finding the ways to make that happen and to grow it.”
