Brett Young recently posted a picture of himself getting a new tattoo on his upper left arm, and it turns out it’s just another phase in what will ultimately be one big storyline.  Brett explains, “The left arm is a work in progress.  It’s gonna end up being a sleeve all the way down to the wrist. So there’s a lot of different pieces that are significant to me but the theme running throughout the whole arm is basically the decision to move from California to Nashville, the decision to call what I do country music, basically the commitment to this as a lifestyle and as a career.”

And Brett explains that there are two parts to the story that are represented in his left arm tattoos.  “From the elbow, basically the elbow down is going to be, while still musically themed, is going to be mostly California and from the elbow up is going to be all Nashville,” says Brett.  “And so the one that I just got actually is a hummingbird, but it’s the design from the pick guard on the Gibson Hummingbird guitar.  And that was another big significant thing. I had always played Taylor acoustic guitars for 10 years and when I moved here I made the transition over to the quintessential country music Gibson acoustic guitar.”

While something like the hummingbird might not seem significant to someone who doesn’t know the story behind Brett’s tattoo, he says, “That’s the whole point of tattoos with me or for me, is that it’s not for anybody else it’s for me.  And so, yeah, I’m just kind of piecing together like what is my story and my journey.”

With Brett’s debut single, “Sleep Without You” sitting at #3 on the country singles chart, and poised to be the first #1 song of his career, you have to wonder if he’ll find a way to incorporate that milestone into his sleeve tattoo.

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Brett Young – new tattoo on left arm  1:01

“So the left arm is a work in progress it’s gonna end up being a sleeve all the way down to the wrist. So there’s a lot of different pieces that are significant to me but the theme running throughout the whole arm is basically the decision to move from California to Nashville, the decision to call what I do country music, basically the commitment to this as a lifestyle and as a career. And so from the elbow, basically the elbow down is going to be, while still musically themed, is going to be mostly California and from the elbow up is going to be all Nashville. And so the one that I just got actually is a hummingbird, but it’s the design from the pick guard on the Gibson Humming-Bird guitar.  And that was another big significant thing. I had always played Taylor acoustic guitars for 10 years and when I moved here I made the transition over to the quintessential country music Gibson acoustic guitar.  And all these things to other people probably seem insignificant but that’s the whole point of tattoos with me or for me, is that it’s not for anybody else it’s for me.  And so, yeah, I’m just kind of piecing together like what is my story and my journey.”