It began operations in 1978 with engineer and studio owner Mark "Mooka" Rennick and co-owner Clifton Buck-Kauffman.

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.

"[2] In 1981, Mooka teamed up with chicken-ranch owner Clifton Buck-Kauffman and relocated Prairie Sun to his 12-acre farm.

The studio evolved to become a complete audio destination: living areas, rehearsal space for pre-production, tracking/overdubbing rooms, and mixing/mastering suites.

[1] Artists that Prairie Sun has recorded include: Tom Waits, John Hammond Jr., AFI, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Primus, Exodus, Racer X, Groundation, The Mountain Goats, Steel Train, UFO, Rob Wasserman, Norton Buffalo, Neko Case, Booker T. Jones, High on Fire, Carlos Santana, Charlie Musselwhite, Steve Kimock, Kehoe Nation, Larry Coryell, Joe Louis Walker, Raw Sun, Volker Strifler, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Dick Dale, Doobie Brothers, Elvin Bishop, Eric Gales, Faith No More, Gregg Allman, Journey, Steve Smith, Michael Schenker, Huey Lewis and the News, Nine Inch Nails, The Tubes, Paul McCartney, Wu-Tang Clan, Van Morrison, Roy Rogers, Marty Friedman, The Cuts, Kenny Loggins, Chris Duarte and Gavin Bryars (who recorded Waits' section of Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet at Prairie Sun).