I am very excited to announce that artist Joel Wright will be providing the artwork for Of Root & Bone. Joel is an incredibly talented painter and tattoo artist. He’s been an artist for 25 years and got into tattooing 15 years ago.

Earlier this year I returned to the U.S. for vacation to visit my parents in Arkansas. One of my main priorities was getting a new tattoo. The online search for inspiration led me to an amazing piece – a watercolor style tattoo of a ram’s skull. I followed this image from Google to the artist’s portfolio and saw that the artist – Joel – worked out of a studio in Texarkana.

Not only was I blown away by Joel’s work, but I was super impressed with his philosophic approach to art – the “creative meditation.” As a musician, his sincere, honest, and vulnerable approach to his work really made a connection with me.

As luck would have it, I was attending a Soundgarden/Nine Inch Nails concert in Dallas. The drive from my parents’ house to Dallas had me going right through Texarkana. From finding a random photo on Google, the universe really went out of its way to line this one up for me.

Joel was great, did amazing work on my tattoo, and created a wonderful atmosphere and experience – which is almost as big a part of the tattoo as the ink itself. After the work was done, we hung out for a bit in his art studio near the tattoo parlor, enjoyed the rain, and talked about the creative process.

When I started thinking about about my album artwork – which in the past I’ve always done myself – Joel came straight to mind.

Check out Joel’s website and full portfolio here. You can also check out Dermagraphic Studio’s site here.

And last, but definetly not least, here is my tattoo designed and inked by Joel along with the watercolor painting he did based on discussions with me about content, feel, and ideas behind the meaning of the piece.

Check out the first song from the upcoming acoustic EP, “Graveyard Song,” here on Soundcloud.