If you love music as much as I do, I discovered a must-stop destination on my way back to Illinois, less than a four-hour drive from Rockford.
A Music Lover’s Paradise Is Just Hours From Rockford
With nearly 45,000 square feet of instruments, musical equipment, sound gear, and a full mall with a coffee shop and live music venue, it’s the nation’s largest music store.
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, the Sweetwater campus has transformed the traditional music store into something that feels more like a Disneyland for audiophiles.
It Started With a VW Bus
The story behind Sweetwater is almost as wild as the store itself. Founder Chuck Surack started the company in 1979 as a mobile recording studio operating out of a Volkswagen bus.
Today, that tiny bus sits right inside the entrance to this sprawling Fort Wayne destination.
During my first Sweetwater experience, I was immediately overwhelmed by the microphone selection. It felt like walking through a museum dedicated to recording technology, including a display case that has $13,000 microphones.
And that’s just the beginning.
Guitars, Drums, Pianos and Everything In Between
The massive store is packed with guitars, drums, pianos, keyboards, DJ equipment, recording gear, vinyl records, and absolutely everything someone who loves music or makes music could want or need…