Matt "The Ratt" Davis is one of Bay View\'s most larger-than-life figures, a tattooed and distinctly pompadoured British expat who has long been at the center of the neighborhood\'s self-contained rockabilly scene. This weekend will mark the close of a long chapter in Davis\'s life. After 12 years playing upright bass with The Uptown Savages, the popular rock \'n\' roll and jump blues band he founded, he\'s leaving the group to take a hiatus from music.
"I have been playing out since I was a teen and now I\'m in my early 40s," he explained to the Shepherd via email. "With everything in the Savages so familiar, it was hard for me to deliver that edge I liked to have on stage that made me Matt the Ratt."
He\'s leaving the band on good terms with a final performance on Sunday, Nov. 13 at Frank\'s Power Plant. Beginning at 2 p.m., the Savages will play two sets, one with Davis, then one introducing new bassist Peter B.
Though he\'s looking forward to a bit of a break from music, Davis says he\'s already plotting his next project.
"I have been kicking around an idea for a higher energy, real greasy \'50s-based (but not authentic) rock \'n\' roll band for sometime," he explained. "I have been talking to a very pro drummer I know and a singer who, believe it or not, is from a hardcore band that I think can really sing. Next we need to find the right guitarist, someone who can pick a little as well as rock out hard, maybe two, and then who knows. It will be fun to play with that kind of energy around me again, and it might give me the kick in the arse I need, too."
