That “ one says ‘Rebel Without A Clue’.’” John Osborne is offering up his left arm to show a blue-inked phrase from a favourite Tom Petty song. We’re sitting in his mood-lit, vintage gear-jammed home studio in East Nashville, and he and his younger brother TJ, both friendly goliaths in jeans and T-shirts, are giving Classic Rock a quick tour of
their respective tattoos. There are mandalas, Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Black-eyed Susans, the state flower of Maryland, where the duo grew up. Both have “the five hashmark”, which represents all five siblings in their family. TJ’s ‘225’, which many fans have speculated as being “some mystical reference”, is actually a homage to an 80s Buick that their dad drove. But it’s that Petty quote, from Into The Great Wide Open, that resonates the most.
“Rebel without a clue,” John says. “I’ve always thought that was insanely poetic. That’s kind of what we are – rebels against conforming to society and societal standards. And the last few years have very much been about going into a kind of great wide open for us.”
