Significance of the Tattoo

I've had several people ask me what Brad's tattoo is. It's the top part of a cello -- the box, pegs and scroll. I didn't think to mention that, and apparently I made quite a few people curious.

As a little background, the oldest four children all play the cello. They began lessons around the age of three or four years old, and they have been heavily involved ever since. They spent several days a week at Vanderbilt in private lessons, quartet practices, orchestra and theory classes. Two of the kids were principal cellists in the Nashville Youth Orchestra, and they have all won numerous competitions. They have attended summer music camps all over the country and one of them has performed in Germany.

Although Brad is a senior at The Georgia Institute of Technology in Industrial Engineering, he's still very involved in music. He's been in a band called, "The Taxi", with three other Georgia Tech students for several years now and is on the music team at a mega church in Atlanta. Their band has won several "Battles of the Bands", has played warm up for some big-name performers and has had air time on a couple of radio stations. Even though Brad is still in college, he was asked to join Georgia Tech's music faculty, and he is currently teaching cello in their pre-college department. Brad graduates in December. He plans to pursue a career in music for at least a few years and may eventually incorporate his love of music with his engineering degree.

Specifically the tattoo is based on various photographs and on a drawing by Susan Sheets in honor of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andrea Amati in 1505. The cello depicted is "The King" by Amati, Cremona, built around 1538. It is the oldest known cello in existence. You can see additional pictures and read about it at http://www.usd.edu/smm/Cellos/Amati/Amaticello.html .