Tattoo Slover

As seen in the…
I
f you haven’t yet visited National
Harbor, you have to make the
trip, and what better way than
to take the water taxi. From
a distance it looks like a little
Lilliputian city, mainly because it lies in
a defined area. As you draw closer the
small city begins to grow before your
eyes. The Gaylord Hotel stands majestic
like the Emerald City in Oz while the
rest of the development continues to
grow up the embankment. Two blocks
long ponytail, dimpled smile, turquoise
and silver jewelry…and of course…
tattoos.
Tattoo was born in Northfork, West
Virginia, a small town in the southern
part of the state in 1977. He remembers
the town as thriving back then, but when
folks began to move away the town
began to die. Like most rural towns, the
1980s took their toll on Northfork too.
“ The area was great,” he tells me, “we
would hike, enjoy the countryside, and
Tattoo Slover
up you will find Fleet Street where the
hip come out to play. Here you can
find the Public House serving great
food, incredible drinks, and a friendly
atmosphere. Across the street is the
Cadillac Ranch where there is also great
food, good drinks, a bit more laid back
atmosphere and a mechanical bull you
can ride…if you dare! Right next to the
“Ranch” sits Bobby McKey’s, a cavernous
room with a surrounding bar in the back
with food and drink service to tide you
over while you enjoy “dueling pianos.”
This is where I first met Tattoo.
If you are ever in a funky mood and
need to “get away”, McKey’s is the place
to go. Sit down, have a drink, and when
these young men sit down to their
electronic grand pianos they will take
you to another world with their energy
and musical agility. Louis Daniel Slover
III will be the good-looking guy with the
10 | November 2010
fish all we wanted.” Fishing is still one
of his passions today and gets out on the
water every chance he gets. He loves
going for large mouth bass, so we will
have to get him together with our bass
fishing expert, Steve Chaconas (see his
article at the back of this issue).
Even though his arms are adorned
with tattoos that look like treble clefs in
a musical score, that is not how he came
by the moniker…Tattoo. Because he
was Louis Daniel Slover the “third”, his
parents began to call him Tattoo at age
3 months to avoid any confusion. It is
amazing what the power of suggestion
can do.
Growing up in a musical family in a
rural town in West Virginia, Tattoo had
numerous opportunities to absorb the
music. “My mother’s uncles were all
musicians as well as my dad,” he says,
“my sister and I would run around on
Personality Profile | Bob Tagert
the back porch where they played, and
that was how I learned to sing harmony.”
He also got an early start on the piano
and learned to play it at 4 years of age.
His dad played the guitar and still does
today in his own band playing jazz and
big band sounds. From his dad, Tattoo
picked up a love for the acoustic guitar
and also became accomplished on the
harmonica, but his true passion is the
organ. “As soon as I could afford it, I
bought a Hammond B-3 organ,” he says.
“Those were the organs used in revivals
and gospel music, and I love that energy.”
When Tattoo was 8 years old, the
family moved to Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina, and this will account for his
slight southern drawl when he speaks.
With his father and 17-year-old sister
Pippa, the now 16-year-old Tattoo
formed a band called Phamlee. “We
played all of the Holiday Inn Lounge
circuits from 1994 to 1997 and had a
ball.” Pippa, who is an RN, still performs
with their father’s band in South
Carolina.
When he was 20, Tattoo left the family
band and joined a country band called
True Justice. It was this same year that
he discovered dueling pianos at a club
called Crocodile Rocks. He also played
with the Kerri Michaels Band. “All of the
others bands were traveling in a bus…
we were the only band that would travel
from gig to gig in our own Mercedes…
we each owned one.” His next band was
the Band of Oz with original member
Butch Barnes. “We all had a great time
making beach music, but I kept thinking
about the dueling pianos.” Tattoo has
been playing music for a living since age
16. “Once I had a job at a restaurant
washing dishes,” he tells me. “After two
weeks I resigned and told the manager
‘the only thing I want to see white in a
restaurant again is piano keys.”’
Today Tattoo plays with his long time
friend Jimmy Porter, the musical director
at Bobby McKey’s. On busy nights
pianists Jeff Ross and Neil McKillip play
so Porter and Tattoo can take a break
and the entertainment is continuous as
well as top quality.
Today, at age 33, Tattoo maintains
his boyish good looks due to his
mother’s Cherokee and Irish ancestry
and the Italian in his dad. He lives
near Harrisburg; Pennsylvania with is
wife Lisa and daughter Eleanor, age 1,
and son Jude Allman, age 3. They have
an older sister Mia, age 8, who lives
with her mother in Florida but spends
summers and holidays with them. I
asked if any of his children have any
musical ambition and his only reply
was, “looking at Jude is like looking in a
mirror!”
To talk with Tattoo, you might think
that he is mystic, and rightly so. His
birthday, December 8th, is shared with
Sammy Davis, Jr., Alexandrian - the late
Jim Morrison, Greg Allman, Jerry Butler
and as an aside, John Lennon was shot
on Tattoos 3rd birthday. His inspiration
comes from Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder
and David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and
Graham Nash. His true idol however,
was James Oscar Smith, or better known
as the “Incredible Jimmy Smith”, who
was also born on December 8th and
passed away on February 8th, 2005.
Jimmy Smith popularized the Hammond
B-3 organ.
If you make it to Fleet Street, stop in at
Bobby McKey’s, grab a beverage, and sit
a spell. If Tattoo is playing, write down
“Somebody to Love” by Queen on one
of the request napkins. When he plays
it, you will think that Freddie Mercury
walked into the room!
Old Town Crier