17th Annual AM-JAM Tattoo Expo

Schenectady, NY

Jan 17-19, 2003 

The 17th Annual AM-JAM Tattoo Expo marked what will hopefully be the beginning of a new era for the event as it moved to its new location at the Schenectady Ramada. With this shift, the event is now completely contained in one venue with parking, accomodations, food, and lots of space for artists and vendors. This year the event not only filled the ballroom but featured even more artists and vendors on the second floor along with two galleries displaying the works of Spider Webb - including special tribute works for 9/11.

My own assosciation with AM-JAM begins back with the 13th annual tattoo expo in 1999. Jeannie, or mom as she is known to many in AM-JAM family, posted an announcement for the event on rec.arts.bodyart to which I responded with an interest in possibly performing. They weren't able to offer me anything for a show but I was only minutes away and it sounded like a good time, so Scott and decided to make a weekend of it. From the moment we got there it proved to be a very good decision. We immediately hit it off with everyone involved and had a great time. From this, we started showing up and performing at other events they put on and the rest is, of course, history...

A little bit prior to this year's expo, Mom emailed me about possibly coming up from Texas to appear and help MC the event. My move to Texas had meant that I missed the previous year's expo. I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it at first, but then as the month fell into place in terms of schedule AM-JAM became our inaugural event of 2003. It also turned out to be the good luck start of our January dates giving us not only a relaxed venue in which to 'warm up' the acts but also kick starting our merchandise sales.  

One of the highlights for me personally was getting to meet and then spend the weekend talking with Spider Webb. I have always admired his work as an artist and for what he has done to push the limits of and ideas people have about tattooing. It seems fairly obvious to people today to consider tattooing as an art form but just a couple decades ago this was not the case and Spider Webb was on the front lines of the fighting it took to help tattooing gain the respect it enjoys today. And while there is still work to be done, he and others like him, have laid a great foundation.

In the mid-seventies, Spider did a piece where he tattooed 999 people each with a small x and then one the one thousandth person he tattooed 1000 x's in the shape of a large X. I had always been a fan of this piece in particular and it was by hearing about it that I first came upon SPider Webb as an artist. After discussing it with him, he made a suggestion which thrilled me - he proposed starting the project anew by tattooing an x on me.

And so, on the last day of the expo, Spider Webb added a small x to my face, just beneath my left eye. Moments later he put one uder the chin of another attendee. It is my hope that this continues and perhaps this time we will see X 2000 or beyond.