All of them agree music is a prominent tattoo theme for customers. At our family outing, my daughter combined her original lyrics with a sketch by Screaming Females' guitar goddess and cartoonist, Marissa Paternoster. My son's first ink, with "Jocko Homo" blaring in the background, were wrist inscriptions proclaiming "Music Runs Through My Veins."

"Regarding the music related tattoo, I wouldn't be able to indicate the best one we've done, but we have done portraits of great musicians like Bob Marley, Johnny Cash and Jimi Hendrix. Those are always fun to do," says Omar Hernandez.

Purnell offered some photographed samples of her music-themed work. A customer came in with autographs from The Breeders' Kelley and Kim Deal, and Purnell drew them into permanence on the customer's skin. Big "Cannonball" fan, I guess. Another features lyrics from The Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out."

"There was a lady I tattooed once who got a flowing music staff with three birds around it for her kids, and 'Every little thing gonna be all right' written in place of the notes," Purnell recalls. "It's a good phrase to remember, especially when your hands are full."

She recently sent her Houston-based work to Asia, by way of members of the Japanese band RIPPER. The female punk rockers played a series of shows on a whirlwind week in Houston last year. Purnell caught the act and they caught hers, by getting inked at Electric Chair.

They've never polled their clientele, but they all figure they've tattooed plenty of Houston musicians. Which naturally led to asking which music artist they'd love to tattoo.

"If I could tattoo any music artist I would tattoo the guys from Caifanes, and I would go for a pre-Hispanic theme," Omar Hernandez shares.

Purnell says her hands-down choice would be Elvis; according to the all-knowing Internet, The King was never tattooed. Back at Virtue, Jay McCaslin says he'd love to tattoo Lemmy from Motorhead, but "would rather have some whiskey with him instead." Matt Burgdorf chose Bono, "because he is Bono. But Bono would have to tattoo me, too."

I wondered whether Bono would choose his own music to be tattooed to -- why do I think he would? -- and found that, in my own case, the music hardly mattered.

We chose Scorpion Studios for our family outing. While the family was getting its work done I heard The Black Dahlia Murder's Nocturnal and all of Prince's The Hits Volume 1. When I was up, my tattoo artist, Bill Folk, did his work and we engaged in some comfortable give and take. Then, before I knew it, it was done and I had a tattoo.

Turns out, I barely noticed the music in the background, which was The Sounds of The Gap Band Live. Old school, Uncle Charlie funk? I probably couldn't have chosen better if I'd been asked.

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