By Emily Bontatibus
Off on a side road from Route 2 in Orono sits a new business that is sure to lure college students in, Lizard Dog Records.
Two weeks ago, Joe Belisle, the owner of Lizard Dog Records, opened up his hobby-turned-business.
“Business has been pretty solid,” said Belisle.
Relying on word of mouth, Facebook and Instagram, Belisle has been able to attract college students and other residents. Located near several restaurants and retailers, Lizard Dog Records is sure to have steady business.
Belisle has another store location called Dream Catcher Antiques, located in downtown Ellsworth which holds around 2,000 records.
In the Orono location, vinyl is split up into different priced bins. Ranging from $1 bins, $3 bins, $5 and up bins and a few special records that are in the hundreds price range.
“I enjoy the hunt for records and I like hanging out at other people’s record stores too, it’s a fun place to explore,” stated Belisle.
Belisle's passion for collecting vinyl began during the Pandemic. In an effort to cure boredom, he and his girlfriend would travel around finding places to hangout.
“As for a record collection I didn’t have much at all,” said Belsisle, “we went into antique malls and I started finding music, then it quickly spiraled from there.”
Some of Belisle's favorite records in his store are James Carr’s “A Man Needs a Woman” and “Highway 61 Revisited” by Bob Dylan.
Bangor, and towns surrounding, house several local bands; and a record store is the perfect place for said bands to market their art.
“I don’t think this space is big enough for a band to play in,” stated Belisle, “but, I’m happy to try and coordinate an afterparty or whatever.”
As for the name of his store, Belisle admitted that it is named after his late dog Lizzy. Belisle adopted her when she was seven years old and her name was already Lizzy, he decided it was too late to change her name.
“It’s not a name I would’ve picked. So I started calling her Lizard instead,” and in natural Belisle fashion, he did so because he, “thought it sounded cooler.”
Although his hobby morphed into a storefront, Belisle is thankful for his exploration into the world of record collecting.
“I realized that there was so much out there that I hadn’t listened to and I’d been stuck in the groove of listening to the same stuff I listened to in high school and college…” he said, “I really like exploring and I’ve learned a lot in the past few years just about different music.”
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