There’s no rule that says if you make music you have to have a tattoo, but the reality is that a lot of people who play music have ink on their bodies. Whether they’re hidden by a shirt or displayed for all the world to see, tattoos can mean a lot of different things: a personal motto, a drunken regret, a constant reminder of a very specific moment in time, so on and so forth. When you picture someone in a rock band, there’s a good chance you’re picturing someone with a tattoo.

Of course, tattoos aren’t just limited to rockers. In this week’s cover story, we sit down with four local musicians and a couple of tattoo artists to talk about their relationship with their ink. They come from different backgrounds and play different types of music, but they’ll share a common bond, one that will stick with them a lifetime.

This article appears in Jul 10-16, 2014.