Albert Lea, Minnesota
Rodeo Records
1729 W Main St, Albert Lea, MN 56007
Record shopping in Minnesota
Few states have shaped American music the way Minnesota has, starting in Duluth where Bob Dylan was born in 1941 before his family moved to Hibbing on the Iron Range and he went on to remake folk and then rock three times over. Down the road in Minneapolis, Prince built the Minneapolis Sound out of his Chanhassen compound Paisley Park, filmed Purple Rain at First Avenue in 1984, and turned the Twin Cities into a global pop laboratory until his death there in 2016. The Replacements and Hüsker Dü came out of the same late-1970s Twin Cities post-punk corner, with the Mats running on Westerberg's barfly heartbreak and Hüsker Dü driving hardcore into power pop across five albums. Rhymesayers Entertainment built Minneapolis hip-hop into a national underground anchor with Atmosphere, Brother Ali, and Eyedea, and Lizzo carried her flute-driven pop straight out of north Minneapolis onto the global charts in the late 2010s. Electric Fetus has been the city's pre-eminent indie since 1968 and has held down 4th Avenue South since 1972, Down in the Valley has anchored Golden Valley and Maple Grove since 1972 and won Minnesota's Best Record Store five years running, and Cheapo Records keeps four storefronts running between Nicollet Avenue, Snelling, Blaine, and Little Canada. Pull on a winter coat, swing through the Cities for a hotdish on the way out, and find out what the North Star State has been keeping on the shelves.
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BEYOND MINNESOTA: VINYL JOURNEYS FROM THE NORTH STAR STATE
As the needle lifts in the North Star State, the Minnesota record map is just one chapter in a much wider Upper Midwest catalog. The St. Croix and Mississippi rivers carry crate diggers east into Wisconsin and south into Iowa, the prairie highways stretch west across the Red River into the Dakotas, and the winter flights out of MSP drop straight into the Sun Belt every January. Wherever the needle lands next, there is more vinyl waiting just over the line.
Wisconsin Record Stores: Head east into Wisconsin, where Madison's Strictly Discs flagship on Monroe Street, Milwaukee's Bay View row of Acme and Rush-Mor, and Eau Claire's Bon Iver country keep the Badger State stacked from the St. Croix down to the Illinois line.
Iowa Record Stores: Drop south into Iowa, where Zzz Records on Ingersoll Avenue, Ragged Records on East 2nd Street in Davenport, and the Iowa City college shops keep the Hawkeye State crates full from Sioux City to the Mississippi.
North Dakota Record Stores: Roll west into North Dakota, where Fargo's downtown shops along the Red River, Bismarck's capital-city stacks, and the prairie-town finds between offer up vinyl rewards that pay back the long highway run.
South Dakota Record Stores: Swing southwest into South Dakota, where Sioux Falls downtown shops, Rapid City's Black Hills gateway stops, and the small-town crates between give the Mount Rushmore State its scrappy regional character.
Arizona Record Stores: Fly southwest into Arizona, where Phoenix's Zia Records flagship, Tempe's college-town scene, and Tucson's desert crates give the Minnesota snowbird crowd a reason to dig long after the lakes freeze over.
Nevada Record Stores: Hop west to Nevada, where Wax Trax on South Decatur, the Reno indie shops along Kietzke Lane, and the Strip's residency-era memorabilia turn every Vegas trip into a crate-digging detour.
At Record Store Directory, every state line is an invitation to keep exploring. Share your finds, connect with fellow collectors, and chase down that next unforgettable album, because the perfect record is always closer than you think.
Happy hunting, and we'll see you in the next stack!
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