Television celebrity and tattoo artist extraordinaire Kat Von D is launching a nationwide version of her Musink Tattoo & Music Festival with a little help from rock greats Social Distortion and Motörhead. Cosponsored by Samsung Mobile, the first Musink tour is scheduled to begin on January 30 and wrap six weeks later on March 15, hitting 25 major cities along the way.
The tour will stop in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Boston, though specific dates and venues have not been confirmed. Itinerary dates and additional musical guests will be announced in the coming weeks.
Von D, who will appear on all dates of the tour, founded Musink in 2008 as a three-day festival in Orange County, CA. According to a press statement, more than 15,000 people attended over the course of the event, which was headlined by The Used and featured approximately 300 international artists.
“We had such a blast with the first Musink Festival, it only made sense to take this event on the road and share the experience with everyone all over the country,” Von D said in the statement, calling the event “the perfect way to showcase the world’s top tattooers, and their diversity in culture and style of the art — all under one roof.”
Motörhead debuted on the hard rock scene in 1977 with their eponymous album and steadily released more than 15 albums in the following years. Best known for the hit “Ace of Spades,” the British rockers released their most recent studio album, “Motörizer,” on August 26.
Social Distortion, often shortened to Social D, debuted in 1983 with “Mommy’s Little Monster,” and have remained a principal force in the American punk rock scene. Their most recent release was 2004’s “Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll,” though a ninth studio album is expected in 2009.
“Tattoos have always been a very personal thing to me, and I never thought Social Distortion would have the opportunity to do an event like this,” said Mike Ness, vocalist and original member of Social D. “I can definitely say that we’re stoked to be a part of it. I mean, I can play every night and get tattooed by some of the best artists in the world during the day. Seriously, what goes better than rock n’ roll and tattoos?”
In addition to live music, the traveling festival will also include an artist expo with on-site tattooing and extreme sports demonstrations, as well as video game and technology sections.
