It is not uncommon for a band after a time to break up and band members to form or join other bands; however it is unusual for two bands to be intertwined with each other to the point that one of the band’s eventually ceases to exist as a separate entity. But such is the case with the hard rock band Tattoo Rodeo.
When band member Gary Brandon left the band White Sister the remaining members Dennis Churchill-Dries, Rick Chadock and Rick Wright decided to move in a new direction and formed a new group with new band member Michael Lord. In 1985 Tattoo Rodeo was born. While White Sister was a more laid back type of heavy rock, Tattoo Rodeo leaned more toward the Motley Crue or Guns N Roses meets Lynard Skynard or 38 Special type of music.
Tattoo Rodeo was a heavy southern rock band with traces of Delta Blues; but band members were not from the southern part of the United States, the members hailed from the southern California area in Burbank. The band’s musical offerings were similar to that of Ratt, Cinderella, Danger Danger, and Tora Tora.
Along with a new band member, and a new band name came a new record label – Atlantic. Tattoo Rodeo’s first album “Rode Hard – Put Away Wet” was released in 1991. While there were some new compositions, the album also consisted of a number of old White Sister demos that had been reworked to fit the new band style. The album was moderately successful but not so much that Atlantic decided not to make any new albums.
In 1993 Tattoo Rodeo signed a contract with Beligian Mausoleum Records and released their second album “Skin” which was a collection of all new solely the band’s material. Again the album was moderately successful, but again failed to reach award winning status. Two years later Tattoo Rodeo faded away as Michael Lord went on to pursue a solo career and in order to make way for a reunion of the original White Sister line up; task that was several years in the making.
In 2006 members of the band minus Michael Lord took the stage for a show in Hollywood. It was not until the Firefest that White Sister one again took the stage.
Tattoo Rodeo is no longer officially a band but band members do take the stage on occasion to perform some of the old material. Despite the lack of a huge commercial success the internet is filled with sites offering Tattoo Rodeo ring tones. There are also a few sites offering videos of the band, and a plethora of sites hawking Tattoo Rodeo cassettes tapes, CDs, and mp3 music downloads.