Tulsa's Timeless Honky-tonk – Chad Rodgers, Cain's Ballroom

Welcome to Tulsa Talks presented by Tulsa Regional Chamber. I’m your host Tim Landes. Oh boy was I excited to do this interview. My guest on this episode is Chad Rodgers, who co-owns and operates the legendary Cain’s Ballroom. It’s a place I consider a second home. I’ve seen hundreds of concerts at Cain’s over the years, yet I’d never talked to Chad until we sat down for this conversation the second week of March. 

At the time it was coincidentally one of the quietist months for the venue since the Rodgers family took over ownership in 2003. Of course now there won’t be any shows in for the next month or two as we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Before the world suddenly changed, Cain’s Ballroom was rockin’ n rollin’. In late January, LA Times writer Christopher Reynolds published his list of the 12 best places for best live music in America. Cain’s ranked No. 4. The only places ahead of it are New Orleans’ Royal Street, NYC’s Carnegie Hall and Nashville’s Station Inn. 

Less than a week later, Rolling Stone named Tulsa as one of the eight best cities to see live music and highlighted the relationship Cain’s has with modern music legend Jack White. 

Of course Chad and I discuss how the White Stripes frontman came to fall in love with Cain’s and what it’s meant for business. 
 We also look back at the early days of the Rodgers family operation, when they inherited the historic ballroom that at the time had no air conditioning, a leaking roof and a mythical wood floor that needed replaced. We also discuss the urban legend that is the spring-loaded floor.

It was also suddenly a family business where nobody in the family had any experience in running a concert venue. Chad talks about the bumps and bruises and when things turned around it became the Cain’s Ballroom we all love today. 

This was a fun conversation diving into why Cain’s is so special to me and many other music fans that stretch well beyond Tulsa. 

This conversation is an expansion of a story about the ballroom that is featured in our April issue. Our intern, Ethan Veenker, did a great job writing about what makes Cain’s special. With distribution of physical copies extremely limited right now, I’d encourage you to visit TulsaPeople.com and check out the story, plus all the other great stuff in the magazine. If you want to read it like a magazine, we also have the digital issue linked on the homepage.

Following my conversation with Chad, Tulsa Voice music writer Kyra Bruce checks in from home to share an excerpt of her interview with Tulsa singer/songwriter Lex followed by the song “Skin Off My Back” to close out the episode. Make sure to also check out her People to Wave To series on Youtube and The Voice’s facebook page. 

OK, let’s get this going. 

This is Tulsa Talks with Chad Rodgers of the legendary Cain’s Ballroom.