Who We Are
NASHVILLE BEST TATTOO built by people inside the industry
Nashville Best Tattoo is run by working tattoo professionals with combined decades of experience in the craft. We are not a directory that lists every shop that pays for placement. We are not a review aggregator that averages star ratings from people who got their first tattoo on a Thursday night and left an opinion Friday morning. We are people who hold machines, who know what a blown-out line looks like at three years, who can tell from a portfolio photo whether the photographer or the artist deserves the credit.
We built this site because Nashville's tattoo market has a problem that any visitor can see: the city draws millions of people every year, many of whom want tattoos, and the gap between the best work happening here and the worst is enormous. Broadway shops built for tourist volume sit within walking distance of genuinely world-class artists who deserve far more recognition than they get from passersby looking for the nearest open door.
Our job is to close that information gap. Every artist and shop we recommend has been evaluated against the same standards we would apply if we were the ones sitting in the chair. Those standards are not flexible. They are not adjusted for price point or popularity. They are about one thing: whether the artist produces work we would be proud to wear permanently.
"The most expensive tattoo you will ever get is a cheap one you have to fix. We built this site so you never have to learn that lesson the hard way."
Our Standards
WHAT WE EVALUATE AND WHY the criteria that matter to people who know the craft
HEALED WORK ONLY
Fresh tattoos always look their best. The photography is flattering, the colors are saturated, the lines are crisp. The truth about a tattoo artist's technique is visible at six months and two years, not the day it was done. We require healed work examples from every artist we evaluate. An artist who cannot show healed work is an artist who is hiding something. We do not recommend artists who cannot show us what their work actually looks like when the body has finished processing it.
TECHNICAL EXECUTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
We look at line consistency, ink saturation, healed color retention, smooth greywash with no patchiness, and clean fills with no holiday gaps. We look at whether the design was conceived for the specific body part or whether it was designed flat and applied without consideration for anatomy. We look at whether the artist understands how their style ages and whether their technique supports long-term durability. We do not compromise on any of this regardless of how popular the artist is or how good their social media presence looks.
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR AMATEURS
Amateur tattooing is not a minor quality issue. It is a health risk. Untrained practitioners working outside licensed facilities, without proper sterilization equipment, without professional-grade materials, cause infections, permanent scarring, and irreversible damage to skin. We have zero tolerance for recommending anyone whose credentials, training, and shop environment do not meet professional standards. There is no such thing as a cheap tattoo from an unlicensed artist that we would ever direct a client toward, regardless of how affordable or convenient it is presented as being.
ORIGINAL WORK AND ARTISTIC INTEGRITY
We are specifically interested in artists who produce original work: pieces conceived for a specific client, designed from scratch, executed with creative investment in the individual result. We have deep respect for flash tattooing when it is done well and from genuine flash traditions. What we do not respect or recommend is artists who copy other artists' work without credit, who lift designs directly from the internet without acknowledgment, or who produce the same generic designs for every client regardless of what the client actually wants. Nashville has artists building genuine bodies of original work. Those are the artists we want to connect people with.
Safety and Sterilization
WHAT WE WILL NEVER COMPROMISE ON the non-negotiables
Tattooing is a procedure that breaks the skin and deposits foreign material into the body. Done correctly in a properly equipped environment by a trained professional, it is safe. Done incorrectly, it can cause serious and permanent harm. The sterilization and safety standards we require of every artist and shop we recommend are not suggestions. They are baseline requirements below which no recommendation is possible regardless of artistic merit.
AUTOCLAVE STERILIZATION
Every reusable piece of equipment that contacts a client must be sterilized in an autoclave between uses. No exceptions. No substitutions. Autoclave sterilization is the only method that reliably kills bloodborne pathogens including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. Any shop that cannot show you an autoclave and demonstrate that it is in regular use is a shop you should not be in.
SINGLE-USE NEEDLES
Tattoo needles are opened from sealed sterile packaging in front of the client and disposed of in a sharps container after each use. No needle that has contacted one person's skin ever contacts another. This is not a best practice. It is the baseline standard below which tattooing becomes genuinely dangerous. We will not recommend any artist whose needle protocol we cannot verify.
CROSS-CONTAMINATION PREVENTION
Preventing cross-contamination between clients requires specific protocols: barrier protection on equipment and surfaces, proper glove use and change procedure, no double-dipping of ink caps, and careful management of everything that moves between the sterile field and the rest of the environment. Artists who understand cross-contamination prevention work in a specific and recognizable way. We evaluate this in person where possible and from client accounts where not.
SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR ARTIST AND CLIENT
A tattooing environment should be safe for both the person receiving the work and the person doing it. This means proper ventilation, adequate lighting, ergonomic working conditions for artists, and a professional environment free from harassment or pressure of any kind. Artists who are working in conditions that compromise their own health and safety cannot do their best work, and clients in those environments are not being served properly. We care about both sides of the needle.
What We Believe
OUR POSITION ON TATTOOING stated plainly
Tattooing is a legitimate art form practiced by skilled professionals who deserve the same respect and recognition as any other craft specialist. The best tattoo artists working in Nashville today are producing work as sophisticated and technically demanding as anything in any other visual art medium.
Clients deserve honest information. The tattoo industry has too many people willing to take money from uninformed clients and too few willing to tell them the truth about what they are buying. We are specifically in the business of honest information: what things actually cost, what artists actually do, what the healing process actually looks like, and what red flags actually mean.
To recommend any artist, shop, or service based on payment, advertising relationship, or any consideration other than the quality of the work and the professionalism of the practice. Every artist on this site is here because they earned it. None of them paid for placement.
To soften our assessments of amateur work to avoid conflict. If a shop is producing work that will look terrible at two years, we will not recommend it regardless of how many Google reviews it has. If an artist has beautiful fresh photos and poor healed results, we will not recommend them. Our loyalty is to the person getting the tattoo, not to the person selling it.
How We Work
HOW WE CONNECT CLIENTS WITH ARTISTS and what happens when you reach out
When you fill out our contact form or reach out through this site, you are not submitting a form into a void. You are reaching people who have evaluated the artists we work with, who understand the styles and capabilities involved, and who can make a genuine match between what you want and who in Nashville is best positioned to deliver it.
We take into account your style preference, your placement, your budget range, your timeline, and what you tell us about the piece itself. We make a specific recommendation rather than sending you a list to choose from. That specificity is the value we provide. Nashville has dozens of talented tattoo artists. Not all of them are right for every piece. Our job is to know the difference and connect you with the one who is actually right for yours.
If we cannot make a recommendation with confidence, we say so. If the piece you are describing is outside the capabilities of the artists we currently work with, we tell you that rather than sending you to someone who will do it badly. Honesty about what we can and cannot deliver is part of the same standard we apply to everything else.
YOU REACH OUT
Tell us your style, placement, rough size, budget, and any reference you have. The more specific you are, the better the match we can make.
WE EVALUATE THE FIT
We review what you have told us against the capabilities, availability, and style of the artists we work with. We consider the full picture, not just the first available appointment.
WE MAKE A SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION
We connect you with the artist or artists best suited to your piece. We explain why we are making that recommendation so you can make an informed decision.
YOU BOOK DIRECTLY
We connect you with the artist. The booking, consultation, and everything after is between you and them. We do not take a cut of the tattoo price. Our interest is in the quality of the match, not in any transaction that follows.
Work With Us
TELL US WHAT YOU WANT AND WE WILL FIND THE RIGHT PERSON FOR IT
Our standards are high because yours should be too. Every recommendation we make is one we would stake our own reputation on.
Find My ArtistFAQ
ABOUT US QUESTIONS answered directly
Do artists pay to be listed on Nashville Best Tattoo?
No. Every artist and shop on this site earned their place through evaluation by working tattoo professionals. We do not accept payment for placement, advertising, or recommendations. Our revenue model does not depend on which artists are listed. Our credibility does, which is why we are strict about who we recommend.
How do you evaluate artists?
We evaluate healed portfolio work, technical execution across multiple styles, client communication and professionalism, sterilization and safety practices, and the consistency of results over time. We look at what the artist does with their best work and what they do with their average work. We make our decision based on both.
What if I have a bad experience with an artist you recommended?
We want to know. Our recommendations are based on evaluation at a point in time and artists change. If a client has a genuinely poor experience with an artist we have recommended, we investigate it seriously. We have removed recommendations in the past when evidence warranted it. Our standards are not a one-time assessment. They are ongoing.
Do you cover artists outside Nashville?
Nashville Best Tattoo is specifically focused on Nashville. We are building similar resources for other cities but each city is its own project with its own evaluation process. If you are looking for tattoo guidance in another city, we can often point you toward resources or artists we know through the broader industry network, but our formal recommendations are Nashville-specific.