For 19 years, Music Go Round was the place to go in the Quad Cities for a giant selection of and & used musical instruments & gear. They always had a very knowledgeable staff that didn't make you feel like a turd for not being a virtuoso on whatever instrument you were plinking on that day.

Unless you walked in the store looking for CD's, then you were mocked.

A year or so ago, owner Mark Ruebling, put the business up for sale and it was shocking. But now it's even more of a finality.

Music Go Round is going out of business.  And it's happening fast!  Saturday is the final day!

Music Go Round has been a QC mainstay.  I used to live near their Kimberly Road

location about  20 years ago, so it was the only place I went to buy guitar strings or any number of percussion instruments.

I bought my niece her first guitar at Music Go Round.

I bought my daughter her first drum set at Music Go Round.

And I sat and shot the breeze with some very talented musicians at Music Go Round. Doug Brundies, Travis Williams (during the "tentacle hair" days), Scott "Standard" Haut, Worm-Chris Urmie, Billy Gardner, Aiden Landman and a number of people I'm forgetting (sorry).  Those guys always were super quick with a witty joke/sarcastic comment or some actual real world musical advice.

It always seemed like a super fun place to work.

I walked into the store today and it was empty.  Not sure what I was expecting for a place that's "going out of business"...but it was hard to look at.  The giant rows of speakers in the back that used to blast Mr. Bungle was diminished to a short stack of fairly priced used monitors.  The giant wall of guitars shrank down to a couple dozen.

Then, I was reminded of the true reason I loved this place.  I asked Aiden about his thoughts on an Ibanez acoustic/electric as opposed to the Ovation I am accustom to.  He didn't try to sell me about the built in tuner.  He didn't show me the price tag & nudge me saying "it's 30% off on top of this amazing price".  He gave an honest answer about the two guitars I was comparing and let me weigh the pros & cons.

Even a couple days before their doors close for good...when a "no returns" policy can be nothing but enforced....their dignity wasn't clouded to make a sale.  It was that kind of trust that kept people coming back for 19 years!

Congratulations to Mark and the great people that worked there....on a great near 2 decade run!

Music Go Round will be missed.