Philadelphia Eddie's and journey's end

Well it was a long amazing trip, and what better way to end it at
Philadelphia Eddie's Tattoos on south street! Also, Don Juan (who was
working in north carolina at my first stop) had moved back to philly,
and I worked with him again....he was at the beginning and the end...the
alpha and omega if you will of my tour...heh. I do so love philly, and
philly cheesesteaks (with whiz! Of course) and was feeling much better
by this time. Working at Eddie's was way rad, and they have kept such an
old school vibe there...kudos to the crew who were awesome!

Troy Timpel, Furry Couch, Don Juan, Byrd, T....

Many thanks to those guys for having me!

Now I'm back in New York City, at New York Hardcore Tattoos my
home....I'm trying to stay here for awhile, depending on when and if I get a place...

All in all it was an amazing journey across our great country of America! I hope to see some of the awesome people I met again sometime in the future...thanks for everything everyone, and all those who upheld
the old school codes of taking care of all us travelling artists.

...
--elvis

Skin Art Tat2 Sioux City

I rolled up into Sioux City, to the shop like a thief in the
night...with the greatest of intentions to do tons of work...the amazing
guys there Ben, Harold, Chad, Big Ben, and apprentice Tony treated me
like gold...

Then disaster struck, I came down with a mad sickness that felt as
though the grim reaper had his scythe stuck halfway in my back and he
didn't let go for four days....during which I had a crazy fever of 104,
chills, and couldn't move....but I did manage to escape the reaper this
time. And through it all the guys at skin art were awesome and made sure
that deaths evil claws did not close upon me.

...shout out to those guys and if you're ever in the area be sure to get
some ink by the fine upstanding lads at:

Skin Art Tat2
2300 Dakota Ave.
So Sioux City, NE 68776
402 494 2919

....next spot come see me at:

Philadelphia Eddie's Tattoo
621 S 4th st.
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215 922 7384

...limited time only!...then it's back to New York!
--elvis

Pure Imagination....

Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker!.....

My next adventure took me off to Mount Pleasant, IA to see my first apprentice Kandyman Joe, and his Pure Imagination wonderland there. The atmosphere was small town magical, as there happened to be a fair in town that week called the "Old Threshers" reunion. Complete with funnel cakes, candies, and awesome arts and crafts booths galore. And not to mention the sweet delicious tattoos that we served up that week! I was also taken to "Sneeze Bend" river and dunked there as some sort of strange tribal ritual that the natives of the town felt that I needed...a pseudo baptism of sorts. It was way fun!....and silly...

Mad shout outs to all the kids there...I had a good time, and if you're ever tired of the craziness of the city and want a true taste of rural america, well...go see that magical place Mt. Pleasant, and visit Pure Imagination Tattoos there, i'm sure the Kandyman will whip you up a nice and tasty tattoo!...Oompah Loompas, I mean the staff there rocks as well, Jared and Alex are a must see! Awesome ppl and excellent artists...so go, now!!......

....just use your imagination!

...on to Nebraska it is for me, as I have much more to see!!!

The Voodoo that Iowa can do!

It's been a long jaunt, and i've been so busy and slackin but here begins the updates!...from San Fran to Cedar rapids, IA...but I made it. And Preceeded to have some good times there. Iowa is quite the interesting place indeed...in the week and a half that I was there I had a teenage lesbian give me her bra, saw a corn silo get hit by lightning and explode (quite awesome actually and I don't think that anyone was hurt, except for some tasty corn)! The staff there is always friendly and helpful, and all round good ppl, Shane, Shannon, Louis (Louithhh), and Cory "So Radd!"....I had the distinct pleasure of working with those guys, and hanging out many times at the lumberyard (gonna miss that club!)...Alsowhile I was there we went up to Minneapolis to see an amazing hardcore show starring the Gorilla Biscuits and Murphys Law, which rocked all around! Civ and Jimmy on tha same stage! How can you go wrong?...if you're ever in the Cedar Rapids area, you absolutely must go get some good voodoo in you!!!well gotta runnoft to tha next spot!!!

One Shot San Francisco

...I was able to head to San Francisco to work next to golden gate park at One Shot Tattoo with:::Dave "Dawg" Bobrick, Greg "Gmoney" Rojas, Karina "lakarina.net", Sky "boogie" Winchester, and thier awesome apprentice Gaytha. We had some good times, and those guys are amazing tattoo artists, if you ever get the chance to head over to San Fran, make hella sure you stop by One Shot!!!

I'll definitely miss this city, and will have to go back soon to check out more of it and hang at the Shamrock, and the Mucky Duck again!....Off to iowa!

http://www.oneshottattoo.com

:::Tour Updates:::

Aug 10th-20th

Voodoo Custom Tattoo
106 Third Ave SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

319-365-8282 or 319-365-TAT2

Aug 21st-30th

Pure Imagination Tattoos
112 S. Main St.
Mount Pleasant, IA 52641

319-385-3977

www.pureimaginationtattoos.com

Sept 4th-13th

Skin Art Tat-2
2300 Dakota Ave.
So. Sioux City NE 68776

402 494-2919

Red Hot Texas

Ah Texas...my hometown (besides New York of course!)...it was typical triple-digit weather, and no snow to be seen. Thank goodness, though I did find myself missing the cold a couple of times...

I had the pleasure of working at Red Hot Tattoos, with Chilli, and Benny Shaw. They also have another location with Jamie English, Peanut, and Adam X.

I also took time to visit with family while I was there, which was nice, and spent july 4th swimming !...We also had a small family reunion and I was able to visit with my grandma (who rocks by the way!) and ate much
bbq!

Me and the guys from the shop lit off as many fireworks as we could, Benny also called me before I left and told me of how he dropped a lit black cat into his toilet blowing a hole in it the size of a fist! Ha!
That kid is mad crazy, gotta love us tattoo artists! He also put one on my foot while I was asleep on the couch in the shop one day and they filmed it....don't fall asleep in the shop, or around us, cause crazy stuff happens!

All in all, it was good times with good friends and family, I hope to go back there soon! If you're in the area don't leave without getting some Red Hot Ink! And don't mess with Texas! Onward to San Francisco I go!

... http://www.redhottat2.net

Stay tuned!
--elvis

:::Tour Dates Update:::

These are my current tour dates (subject to change due to traveling time etc...)

June 7-July 19

Red Hot Tattoos
2304 Suite B North Collins St.
Arlington, TX 76011

817-460-9667

www.redhottat2.com

California-

July 24 - August 7

One Shot Tattoo
1239 A 9th Avenue
San Francisco,CA 94122

415-731-7468

www.oneshottattoo.com

Future dates to be announced:::

Voodoo Custom Tattoo
106 Third Ave SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

319-365-8282 or 319-365-TAT2

Pure Imagination Tattoos
112 S. Main St.
Mount Pleasant, IA 52641

319-385-3977

www.pureimaginationtattoos.com

Skin Art Tat-2
2300 Dakota Ave.
So. Sioux City NE 68776

402 494-2919

Also anyone interested in offering me a guest spot while i'm on the road...or wanting to set up an appointment with me...please feel free to e-mail me at: elvistatt@tmail.com

Shops that I have been to and that you should visit if you're ever in those areas!!
:::

April 26-May 8
Old Glory Tattoos
2419 Central Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28205

704-375-1100

www.oldglorytattoo.com

May 11-May 22

Artcore Tattoos
481 N. Federal Hwy.
Boca Raton, FL 33432

631-707-3833

May 23-June 5
Laboratory Tattoos
691 Brownswitch Rd.
Slidell, LA 70458

985-649-1800

...peace...
elvis

The Laboratory ...New Orleans...

Photos: Top to bottom: Front of Shop ; The Infamous piercer Shane ; L to R Fred, Elvis, Jesse ; L to R Elvis, Jimmy the Saint ; L to R Fred, Elvis on Bourbon St. ; Nautical Star neck tattoo on Lee the piercer

Ah, New Orleans, LA...post Katrina...still kickin!! I had the distinct pleasure to go and work at the Laboratory (actually in Slidell,LA but close enough ;0p ) for Fred...who is an amazing person all around. I had a great time there, all of the guys from the shop were cool as hell, and I would most certainly go back there given the chance...I hope sooner than later. We did spend some time down on Bourbon St. which looks quite good and had mad fun there. Did some cool tattoos and spent time with good people...that's it i'm goin back...heh...well if you're in the area be sure to visit those kats down at the Laboratory 985-649-1800...go ...now!!!

...almost forgot....: Woo!!!Yea!!!


e

Elvis For President!

I had a brief layover in Washington D.C. before heading down to New Orleans...here's some pics I took there...me in front of the white house ;) my fav...me and lincoln hangin out...and some other random pics from our nation's capitol...enjoy!!

Artcore Tattoos Florida

Photos: Top:Elvis, Justin... Middle:Chad, Elvis, Bobby, Eric... Bottom:Front of shop...

Florida, ah the beach, tattoos, and madness! I had an excellent time down there with the boys from Artcore, which i'd like to thank for having me and for putting up with my silliness for the week and a half I was there...

The guys there showed me a great time, chilling out on the beach...giving all our money to strippers, and I was able to do some fun tattoos on some of the crew, and thier neighbor Josh who runs the comic shop next door...Popular comics...look em up, Josh is one cool kat...

Many shout outs to all those guys, if you ever get the chance to head to Boca Raton, make sure you definitely stop by Artcore...the kids there are good people, i'd like to say thanks to them, and hope I can get back there soon...

Old Glory

The first leg of my trip took me to North Carolina, down south to work
at Old Glory Tattoo in Charlotte. Home to the amazing crew...Pat Crane,
Don Juan, Tom Wilkinson, and piercer Steve. My first days were heavy
laden with the never ending bar-b-que....which ruled! And good times did
follow....I did some tattooing...(which I'll be posting pics of...) and
had some work done on me by Don "mutha f*kin" Juan...

I also received my first gunplay incident while we were at the first
show I went to. We had just arrived at the venue last Sat. And had just
gotten out of the car when two people ran by us while being chased by
two other people who were shouting, "Stop those guys they robbed us!"
...when they said that, one of the guys being chased reached into his
pocket pulls out a revolver..(all while running away) and shoots three
times in the air. They continued to run off, and the other guys
proceeded to pursue them. We all just looked at each other, shrugged our
shoulders and laughed at the ridiculousness of it all...and I believe
one of the guys I was with said, "Welcome to Charlotte..". We went in,
the show was good, a rock/jam band and the rest of the night was chill.

So, not a bad way to begin this journey....craziness...but don't let that sway your opinion...all the people were quite nice...hospitable and altogether lots of fun to hang out with and work along side of...I'd like to thank Pat ...Old Glory and all those who made this a heluva great place that if any of you ever get the chance you should definitely go and see those guys...good people, good tattoin,
and good times. I would go back anytime...and probably will...but
first...on to Florida...a 21 hour train ride away...

...and more adventures to be had...
Stay tuned...
--elvistatt

::::Tour Dates::::

This is my most current list of tour dates I have so far:

April 26-May 8
Old Glory Tattoos
2419 Central Avenue
Charlotte, NC 28205

704-375-1100

www.oldglorytattoo.com

May 11-May 22

Artcore Tattoos
481 N. Federal Hwy.
Boca Raton, FL 33432

631-707-3833

May 23-June 5
Laboratory Tattoos
691 Brownswitch Rd.
Slidell, LA 70458

985-649-1800

June 7-June 19

Red Hot Tattoos
2304 Suite B North Collins St.
Arlington, TX 76011

817-460-9667

www.redhottat2.com

Las Vegas, NV- To be announced

California- To be announced

Future dates to be announced:::

Voodoo Custom Tattoo
106 Third Ave SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

319-365-8282 or 319-365-TAT2

Pure Imagination Tattoos
112 S. Main St.
Mount Pleasant, IA 52641

319-385-3977

www.pureimaginationtattoos.com



Skin Art Tat-2
2300 Dakota Ave.
So. Sioux City NE 68776

402 494-2919

These are the current shops and dates I have right now, but will be possibly be adding more, and will definitely add dates as I am certain of them. Also anyone interested in offering me a guest spot while i'm on the road...please feel free to e-mail me at: elvistatt@tmail.com

Good advice

Saw this sign in a bathroom at Iggy's (a pub on the LES) awhile
back...and believe I should heed those words of wisdom while I'm on the
road....
--elvis

Before I go...

This will be my last week in New York for a couple of months as I go 'walkabout' across the United States. Spreading ink, joy, and mayhem to all the tattoo shops that have upheld the old school code and graciously offered to take me in while I'm on the road. I'll be spending about two weeks at each spot, tattooing, hanging out, and sharing crazy stories and pictures along the way with all of you in person and through this blog. So stay tuned, check back often as this will be the journal of my shenannigans on....Elvis' American Tattoo Tour!
--elvis

Ladies and Gentlemen...

....elvis is leaving the building....