Buchanan business owner Jen Tabor first created her unique guitar straps as a birthday gift for her bandmates and friends.

Wanting to make something that spoke to their individual personalities, Tabor used the only two materials at her disposal: discarded seatbelts from her dad’s car collection and spare fabric.

The guitar straps were a hit — but Tabor’s friends were not the only ones to appreciate them.

For the past 13 years, Tabor has operated her business, Souldier, where the guitar straps have become a popular pick among famed musicians, including Steven Tyler and Brad Whittford of Aerosmith, Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes, John Gourley of Portugal the Man, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and dozens more.

Until about six months ago, Tabor ran her business in Chicago. Wanting to be closer to family in South Bend, Tabor moved the business to Buchanan and opened shop at the location in April. 

“I ended up finding a good community,” Tabor said. “It felt like there was room to breathe here.”

Her newest business location is not easy to find. At the back of a factory building, Tabor spends her average work day in the shop alongside her employees, producing 800 to 1,000 guitar straps a week. The business also sells camera straps, head bands, other instrument straps and dog collars.

Inside the factory, a waterfall of seatbelts flows from multiple shop shelves, nearby dozens of boxes of vintage 1960s to 1980s fabrics gleaned from warehouses across the country. There are 1,500 fabric varieties to choose from, and many of the fabrics are the same type to be worn by music legends such as Jimi Hendrix and Muddy Waters.

The fabric, combined with the seatbelts, offers a sturdy instrument strap, coupled with eclectic and unique style that likely will not be found anywhere else.

“Some of them are rockabilly, some of them are rock and roll,” Tabor said. “Some are plain Jane, some are shiny and sparkly. The more materials we collected and gathered, the more people we were serving.”

All of the products are hand crafted in her shop, another aspect Tabor believes attests to the success of her business.

“Our quality is hands down one of the things we are recognized for,” Tabor said.  “There’s quality, nostalgia. People always tell me there is mojo in our guitar straps.”

Tabor grew up in South Bend and is a graduate of Penn High School. She attended Indiana University South Bend and later DePaul University in Chicago.

Before becoming a business owner, Tabor was an orchestra director and spent 10 years working as a school music teacher. She taught kindergarten through eighth grade across schools in Chicago, including Old Town School of Folk Music.

“Halfway through my teaching career, I started this company by accident,” Tabor said. “Eventually, it grew too big and I had to quit teaching to keep up with our orders.” 

Today, Tabor sells to hundreds of shops around the country, as well as almost a dozen countries overseas. Guitar straps range in price from $35 to $85 and are Souldier’s most popular product. Souldier offers four different fashion lines of the guitar straps, including Souldier traditional line, saddle straps, Dream Weavers, which are woven from a Colombian indigenous tribe and traditional 1960s style Bobby Lee guitar straps. Souldier purchased the Bobby Lee brand about five years ago.

In the next six months, Tabor is hoping to bring her business out into the open by leasing some downtown space on Front Street, where she hopes to open a retail store and music store, where people can also take music lessons.

While still new to the Buchanan area, Tabor said she has been happy to be part of the Michiana community.

“I am proud to bring something new to Michiana,” Tabor said. “It is a great small town and it’s moving in the best direction.”

Merchandise can be purchase online by visiting, souldier.us.