Smiling Dog Records has my vote as one of the more interesting music stores -- as in vinyl records -- in the area. Maybe because it's in downtown Billings in an older area that somehow seems a fitting spot for a throwback way of listening to music, or maybe it's because there is an extraordinary collection of records in all genres, or perhaps it's the turntables for sale. I don't know exactly, but I spent quite a bit of time exploring.
As I walked in, the owner explained the general layout and then left me to do what I enjoyed most -- exploring. It was a treasure hunt. There are some newer albums, of course, if you want to expand your collection without going to a box store. Some of the older albums, a few of them, appeared to be in their original shrinkwrap, so it would be like buying new, if that counts. The prices are reasonable, and even the rarer finds are not out of the range of reasonable.
What I like, and didn't realize I missed with today's methods of delivering music, is the cover art. Sometimes just the front, sometimes the front and back, and sometimes both front and back and in a foldout, the art is truly extraordinary. Of those that had the picture of the artist, it's jarring to see how young that person looked (that was Rod Stewart? really?). Whew. read more