There are plenty of familiar faces at Smiling Dog Records, from the members of KISS on the windows to the faces of the Beatles, Prince, Brandi Carlile, and countless others that peek from the stacks of used records.
Lining the walls of the store on the corner of Minnesota Avenue and North 27th Street are records of sentimental value, those that are rare, highly collectible, and signed first edition pressings. Among those is a 1978 record by Barbara Lee and the Whiskey River Boys.
Paulette Ellis (aka Barbara Lee), who’s usually behind the counter sorting through vinyl and filling online orders, smiled broadly as she recalled recording the album at Jester’s Studio in Billings. “Dan Tryan is on there, the Gatlin Brothers, and John Hermann,” she said.
Her son, Michael Ludlam, the owner of the shop, “points that record out to everyone,” she said.
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Smiling Dog Records opened in February 2016. In the room adjacent to the store, a live music venue sprung up out of necessity. With few places for experimental, fringe, and small touring acts or local musicians, Smiling Dog became a haven.
That is, until Aug. 30, when the venue was asked to cease operations until it could be brought up to code. “Some 'anonymous’ person called in a complaint to the fire department and the building did not pass inspection for assembly usage,” according to the shop’s Facebook page.
Jessica Iverson, a deputy with the city’s Building Division, said the building is classified as an “M-mercantile” occupancy, and not designed nor code compliant as an “A-assembly,” for events like a concert.
“The fire department will do inspections periodically or at the request of someone, or if they are following up on a complaint,” Iverson said. The building owner, Karl Morledge, and the business owner "are aware of the situation and wanting to do the right thing.”
Historic locations
Smiling Dog Records is in a building rumored to be Billings oldest permanent business structure. The original building was a mercantile owned by P.W. “Bud” McAdow, who founded the city of Coulson. The building partially burnt in the late 1880s, and in 1891 it was rebuilt to operate as a saloon.
Next door, a building called the "California" operated as a Chinese restaurant with rooms for rent above. It's this space, built around 1887, that is in question. The two buildings are attached, and Ludlam was using the front portion of the California to hold shows.
That space became known across the country as a place for alternative voices. It was a place for experimentation, for noise, for sweaty mosh pits and flailing punk rock. It was a place for young people, and DIY culture, and homemade music otherwise grinding out in basements and garages. At any given show, there may be four people in the audience, or the room packed from wall to wall. But it was a place for those who had no other place to play.
Just down the street, touring musician and artist Shane de Leon is opening an art gallery and performance space in the old Kirks’ Grocery building at 2920 Minnesota Ave. He’s proceeding with caution.
“I like to work small, because I think you can control it. I like touring in this tiny van that runs well because I can control my costs. This venue is very small, and I don’t want it to get shut down,” he said of Kirks'.
He’s had an inspection of the property by the fire department, which has been passed along to the city’s building department. The space has been approved for occupancy, with a maximum of 49 people. The business licence is dependent on an additional inspection, to take place next week. Until de Leon has obtained the proper licensing, he’ll be holding private events.
“Whatever they tell me about how many people can be in here, that’s all I’m going to allow.”
Promoting a scene
De Leon grew up in Billings, and moved home a year ago. He’d been on the road nearly continuously with his band, Miss Massive Snowflake. “I was tired. I just wanted to sleep,” he said. After a bit of rest at his parents', the West High graduate began to re-explore a city he hated as a high schooler.
“There was nothing to do here. We’d drive to Bozeman when I was 15, and no one would come to Billings,” he said of touring bands of the time. Back in Billings, he formed a few bands that played punk rock covers of the Sex Pistols and GBH.
“Smiling Dog, hands down, is my favorite place in Billings to see music, just because I love underground music. I love going there and seeing 16-year-old kids rock out, even if they suck…If this was happening when I was 16, I probably would have had a much different life. I wouldn’t have left.”
Now in his 50s, de Leon is driven to make space for the musical underdogs. “There is plenty of places for Americana bands here. There is plenty of places for folk singers. There isn’t plenty of places for rappers, or experimental music, noise musicians, for a 16-year-old punk rock band.”
For de Leon, Smiling Dog is a cautionary tale, but he’s eager to start another space for performance. “I just don’t have anything better to do with my life than to promote art and music,” de Leon said, laughing. “I’ve never bought into jobs.”
De Leon officially moved into the former grocery store on Sept. 15 and has been hanging art and preparing the space for events.
“It’s going to be contemporary. I don’t know any other galleries who will do what I want to do,” de Leon said. Local and out of state artists will be represented.
The early 1900s building has historic charm with original tin ceilings and exposed brick walls stretching toward the south. It still holds the name “Kirks’ Grocery” and was operated by brothers Richard Kirk and W.A. Robinson from 1907 to 1936.
De Leon estimates the building is 125 feet long. About half the building will be utilized as an art gallery and performance space. De Leon will rent and share the space with two other artists.
Where creativity started
Plenty of alternative venues have come and gone in Billings. Of recent memory is the Mule Skinner on South 26th Street, and Yellowstone Perk off Roundup Road in the Heights. The VFW in the Heights was also host to plenty of local and metal bands, and the recently defunct Railyard had a stage that locals could book.
Smiling Dog isn’t the only record store in the region that found itself under scrutiny in recent months. In July, Sonic Rainbow CDs in Casper was asked by the Casper Fire Department to cease holding live concerts in their store. With the increased scrutiny following a fire in a warehouse operating as an unpermitted art gallery in 2016 in Oakland, California, killing 36 people, many small venues across the country that are not meeting fire code are ceasing operation.
Back at Smiling Dog, looking around the shop, it’s heavy – literally and emotionally – for Ludlam to consider closing. Yet, to keep the doors open and continue to host shows will take an incredible investment. Ludlam gestures to the couch, where the Shook Twins sat and recorded an acoustic performance on Record Store Day that made its way to YouTube. Hanging adjacent to the couch is a guitar signed by many rock ‘n roll legends, some of whom came into the shop on a whim, including Chris Shiflett, lead guitarist for the Foo Fighters.
“They roll into town and have nothing to do. They aren’t going to drive to the West End. They are going to wander around downtown hitting antique stores and looking for records. That is what made me want to put this down here.”
As he picks through records with his mother, Ludlam gets nostalgic when she hands him a Buddy Holly record. “That’s how I got turned on to music,” he said. “I would steal her records. Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Dire Straits…” The two are a musical pair, surrounded by the objects that they love and value. Yet, they admit, the store isn’t profitable, and without support from the community they may have to move the business online.
For de Leon, if his venue operates a few years, it’s successful. “Success is defined a lot of ways. If you can get a young kid to be an artist or follow a passion in music or some sort of creativity…To me, Smiling Dog was successful because it changed people’s lives. Bands were formed there and creativity started at Smiling Dog,” de Leon said.