This is a Wild Offer

Freddy Mercury, Adele, Otis Redding, Nina Simone. There’s so many more great singers in the world, but if ones of these names don’t strike a chord with you, then we probably can’t be friends. What about Alicia Keys? Dusty Springfield or Dolly Parton? Sam Cooke comes to mind. Chris Cornell? Come on!

This Saturday, our beloved and significantly off-kilter benefactor has blocked out a few hours to do a tattoo for someone, ahem, who will sing him a song.

Chris Cornell, Billie Holiday, Adele, Freddy Mercury, Dolly Parton, Lady Gaga, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston. Will has agreed to do a portrait of one of these singers for the simple price of a song. The best singer can pick their portrait from one of these 8 (they’re the best photos we could find of some of Will’s favorite singers.) The tattoo will be done this Saturday, starting around 10am. The song can be sung at Lighthouse Tattoo during our business hours of noon to 10pm. If it’s really good, he said he’d consider other singers’ portraits, we just have to be able to find a good photo.

We don’t really know why he’s doing this. We’re pretty sure he doesn’t either. He keeps muttering something about ‘what’s a song worth’ and ‘chutzpah’ or something. We’ll see. If you or a friend would like a complimentary tattoo by one of the very best portrait artists in the state and you can carry a tune, swing by Lighthouse Tattoo and give it a shot. Will’s crazy man.

Friday the 13th Contest Details

In recent years, even though we accept appointments, we have had so many walk-ins that we’ve had to turn people away, usually by mid day, even then the wait can sometimes get as long as 5 hours. While we’ve taken pains to shorten wait times by increasing the number of tattooers working (this year we’re up to 10 artists at once) we’re introducing a new way to skip the line using a point system. It’s pretty simple if you want to try it: You can earn points performing tasks, once you get to 50 points, you get to be next in line (this excludes people with existing appointments, they take priority).

Here’s the tasks: 1. In order to play the game, you must leave us a 5-star review on Google, if you don’t feel that you can do this in good conscience, then please don’t. This is simply a reminder to let your friends know who your favorite tattoo shop is.

2. Wear a costume-10 to 40 points. We have to be able to tell it’s a costume. You can’t some as a biker if you’re a biker or a ballerina if you’re a ballerina; but if you’re a biker and you dress up as a ballerina, now THAT’s a costume! The better the costume, the more points you’ll earn. We are looking for originality, quality of execution, difficulty/depth of involvement, and Valentine’s Day-themed costumes are preferred (Cupid, Aphrodite, etc. Be creative!)

3. Stand outside with a sign for 10-15 minutes (depending on the weather)-10 points.

4. Get a piercing-20 points.

5. Bring us Jack Daniels-1 point per ounce, a fifth is 25 points. We drink.

6. Eat a bowl of hot chili and don’t drink anything for 5 minutes-Automatic next in line! Must sign a waiver first.

7. Bring a license plate from a different state-10 or 20 points. 10 points for a plate from a state we already have, 20 points from a new state or if the plate says something cool.

8. Bring a dog toy for a BIG DOG-10pts.

9. Beat the Bring Sally Up challenge-Next in Line! This is a push-up challenge to the beat of a song called Bring Sally Up. Not many people can do it, but you’re welcome to try.


Friday the 13th Flash!

Here are the latest additions to our Friday the 13th flash offerings that we’ll have available this February! There will be others, certainly, but these designs are all new. Additionally, here’s a breakdown of how the event will work, for those who like to pay attention:

We will start at the stroke of midnight, Friday February 13th with our Midnight Offering, this is an adult event, so no children please. Also, we will not be offering piercings at this time, tattoos only. We will not be taking appointments for the Midnight Offering either, it is strictly first-come, first served. We will continue as long as we have a solid flow of business, once things turn to a trickle, we’re done. This part usually runs 4-6 hours. Everyone in attendance will receive a ticket to the Broken Hearts Club party raffle on Saturday the 14th. You don’t have to get tattooed to receive a ticket.

At noon on Friday the 13th the Main Event begins! WE WILL BE TAKING APPOINTMENTS FOR THIS EVENT. Be sure to schedule your appointment early, as they tend to sell out quickly. ALL OTHERS WILL BE SERVED ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS, and the wait can become significant. We have seen wait times stretch to as long as 5 hours due to the extreme volume of people who wish to participate, so please book if you’d like to guarantee you will get tattooed. Due to a clerical issue, last year we even scheduled an overflow day and many of those people didn’t bother to show up, so we won’t be offering that again.

In order to prevent a situation where someone waits for hours and gets turned away, we will have a cut-off time determined by the volume of people we have in attendance, once so many people are signed up that it will take us into 10pm to finish their tattoos, we will stop accepting new sign-ups. (I really hope this makes sense, it just prevents excessively long wait times and eliminates the chance that people who have signed up don’t get served) Our goal is if you make it into the queue, you will get tattooed that day.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL US ON FRIDAY THE 13th! THE PHONE WILL BE TURNED OFF. Ask your questions in person the day of or call or come by the shop well beforehand with any inquiries. We do not have time to deal with every idiot who waits until the last minute, there are far too many of those to handle.

Everyone in attendance will receive a ticket to the Broken Hearts Club party raffle on Saturday the 14th. Please visit our Events page for more detailed information on this Friday the 13th suite of events!

Walk-ins Are Welcome!

This tattoo was done for $800 as a walk-in. A word to the wise, if you want something like this as a walk-in anywhere, expect to pay a premium for the privilege. It’s always best to have an appointment and possibly a consultation before a larger piece like this. We try to accommodate everyone however, as seen here!

Peaky Blinders Tommy Shelby Portrait Tattoo

Cillian Murphy’s abilities as an actor went underappreciated for a long time, until, that is, the Peaky Blinder series hit the shelves and the rest has been history. After Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, we think he’ll be making blockbusters for years to come. This collage portrait piece was done for $700 in a single session by Will Wood.

Sirius-ly Cool

Apologies for the picture quality, but we were excited! This Sirius Black portrait from the Harry Potter series of films was $600 and performed in a single session by portrait artist Will Wood. Will’s a pretty big HP fan (as are the rest of us!) and he loves doing these Harry Potter-inspired pieces.

Christmas Special!

On Friday, December 26th, in observation of the Christmas Holiday, Lighthouse Tattoo will be offering a small tattoo special. Appointments are welcome, but we will have enough artists on hand to take care of some walk-ins as well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sometimes They Come Back

Remember that old Stephen King movie ‘Sometimes They Come Back’? Well neither do we, but it’s true! As the case may be, two of our long-lost artists have returned to Lighthouse Tattoo simply because they missed you. That’s right folks! For your tattooing pleasure, artists Hannah and Linzi are back! We’ll be updating their portfolios (among other things) on this site in the immediate future. Welcome back you two!

Centurion Cover-Up Tattoo

Why can’t we remember to take BEFORE pictures of these cover-up tattoos? We’ll try to do better. Anywho… This Roman soldier-themed cover-up of a tribal armband fucking GOES. Have some trash you need to get rid of? Can’t find anyone to touch it? Want to reclaim your confidence and thus your life? Give Lighthouse Tattoo a call and we’ll see what we can do for you!

Realistic Elephant Tattoo

Pachyderm perfection performed by Amanda Gibbs. It seems a lifelong passion and dogged pursuit of art lends itself favorably to being a great tattoo artist. As you can see, young Amanda is well on her way. Be sure to schedule an appointment with her now, before she blows up! (Disclaimer: Amanda Gibbs in not now, nor has ever been comprised entirely or partially of explosive materials. So chill.)

Do You Like Dogs?

Some say you’re either a dog or a cat person and while we don’t subscribe to that, it’s easy to see what this fella likes, his doggos. These particular pooch portraits were performed by our very own Amanda Gibbs.

Session Sale Ending

For months now, we’ve worked hard to keep prices down, limiting our 5 hour session rate to $300. This was only possible as long as we were able to maintain a high volume of clients, as the biggest obstacle to making money in the tattoo business is NOT doing tattoos. Unfortunately, as happens every year around this time, it appears that people are spending their money on other things, so we have to end our sale.

Starting November 2nd, the artists at Lighthouse Tattoo will return to their normal session rate of $500 for 5 hours. This is still a great value at less than the typical rate for a lot of shops and it will allow us to keep the lights on even if we’re not as busy during the winter months.

Now, let us be clear, we’re letting you know this because it’s still possible to prevent the rate change. If business picks up and increased volume allows us to offset a reduced rate, we’ll continue the deal. So take advantage of this sale while you still can and maybe we’ll be able to keep it going!

Hercules

Hercules wearing the head of the Nemean Lion. Greek and Roman mythology has always been popular tattoo fare. The richest of the stories and the history, as well as our exposure to it as young children (how old were you when you heard your first Hercules story?) as well as the visuals it conjures, lends it well to this ancient artform.

Cover-ups Are An Art All Their Own

Far too many people have tattoos they can’t stand anymore. It’s the single biggest threat to the longevity of the tattoo business-tattoo regret. We opened Lighthouse Tattoo as a way to bring good, affordable tattooing to Middle Tennessee. In doing that, we brought even more tattoo shops into town once they realized a market for the business was sustainable. We’re very proud of that fact. Unfortunately, we have been inundated with requests from clients to get old or substandard work covered up.

Cover-ups require a skill set that’s different from the typical tattoo process. Knowing what will work and being able to execute a good finished product; being willing to say ‘no’ when a client makes an uninformed and poor request; and being willing to take the necessary time to creates a good cover-up are all traits we foster here at Lighthouse Tattoo.

This cover-up was performed by Amanda and everyone was well pleased with the result. If you need something covered up or reworked, Lighthouse Tattoo is open seven days a week, from noon to 10pm.