Davis Acuff

About me:

Hello all, my name is Davis Acuff. I am a professional musician living in the St. Louis metro area. My home is in Belleville, Illinois which is about 15 minutes east of St. Louis city. I have been performing off and on for around 25 years. I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the finest musicians in both St. Louis and Houston.

My primary instrument is Bass Guitar although I also play piano/keys reasonably well. I play a 1987 custom Jackson King-V bass guitar (Ontario). I am the original and only owner of this unique Jackson prototype for which there were only two made. My second is a classic 1996 Fender P-bass w/EMG pickups. They are both great guitars and I enjoy playing them both. My rig consists of an Ampeg SVT3-Pro, Tech-21 SansAmp bass pre, into an Ampeg 4x10 cabinet. I use GHS boomer strings and Shure mics.

I grew up in St. Charles, Missouri and studied music throughout school and in college. I began on piano at a young age and later learned to play saxophone, bassoon, tuba, trumpet and the bass guitar. I was fortunate to play with a talented group of students in the High School jazz ensemble where I began to master the bass. Studying great artists like Buddy Rich, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clark, Maynard Ferguson and Chick Corea I developed a taste for classic and modern jazz. Of course, my teenage years also formed a passion for rock music, and progressive rock in particular. My favorites at the time were Rush, Yes, Pink Floyd to name a few.

I formed my first "band" in the basement of my parents house which we named Rekx. I have no idea where I came up with the name, but we spent the afternoons jamming songs like Livin' After Midnight, You Really Got Me, Rocky Mountain Way to name a few. I was heavily influenced by a very talented young guitar player who lived on my block named Jeff Miesner. Jeff had this baddass Ibanez Iceman guitar and could play very well for his age. In time we would meet another guitarist named Rich Goodman and formed a group with my lifelong friend Steve Scott, a former drummer who took up lead vocals. The pinnacle of our success was winning a talent show at a local high school. Later this band would reform with new members as Erotix.

Erotix was my first working band and included Steve Scott , Terry Drake, John Brown and Jeff Miesner. This was a great band to learn the ropes of playing clubs. We were "good" with the potential to be great. We survived about a year playing various clubs in the area including the Animal House, several North County bars and an underage club in St. Charles called Odyssey. Erotix gave me my first taste of the rock n roll lifestyle, but it was about to get much bigger.

In the late 80's I played bass guitar for the band Scooter in St. Louis. This "supergroup" consisted of myself on bass guitar and vocals, Mike Biel (Keyboards and vocals), Todd Jones (guitar extraordinaire), Mike Halfhill (Drums), and Jeff Nickens (Lead Vocals). After winning a regional battle of the bands, we quickly became St. Louis's top rock act performing songs by Whitesnake, Journey, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, and more including our own originals. We shared the stage as a support act for Nazareth, Pavlov's Dog, Head East, Chuck Berry and more. By this point, I was enjoying the lifestyle of a rock star. Those were good times, but wouldn't last more than a couple of years. After Scooter, I took many years off to raise a family and moving around a bit. In 1994 I settled in Houston Texas.

In Houston, with my kids in their teens, I began to play again. I joined an 80's dance band called The Lost Boys which quickly became a downtown sensation. We covered songs by Rick Springfield, The B-52's, Journey, The Outfield, Brian Adams, and much, much more. Later I was asked to join an 80's hair metal tribute band called "That 80's Hair Band". We took Houston's rock clubs by storm. Sporting pro costumes, great players, and a massive stage production, the band developed a very loyal following. Both bands had very successful runs and opened for national acts.

After nearly 13 years in Houston, I made the difficult decision to move back to my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri where I now call home. I am working full time downtown as a sales rep for an office furniture dealer and working in multiple music projects.

After being married for nearly 20 years, I am now single again. I have so many fond memories of my former relationship, but it just didn't make it the distance. So, I'm single again.



For several months I worked with "Lit Sister", a four-piece variety band. We gigged the club scene for a few months at the end of 2007. Lit Sister put me together with my old drummer from Scooter, Mike Halfhill. He is, and always will be, my drummer. Earlier this year, we had a chance to get together with our old guitar player Todd Jones who is with Wellhungarians. He was eager to get back together and jam, and OH WOW - St. Louis's new rock act "RATPOIZON" was formed. This band has amazing potential and I feel very strongly that anyone that comes to see this band will flip! I have never been confident enough about my bands to make a statement like that. This band, I guarantee it.

I also work in what has become the best cover band I have ever worked with called "Carry the Zero". This band is f-ing incredible. We are regulars at Pop's Nightclub, Shenanigan's in Belleville, and a few other clubs. You can check us out on my friends. I have known these guys for many, many, years and are some of the best musicians/singers I have ever had the opportunity to work with. We were told by a club manager recently that we were not only a great band musically, but the most "entertaining" band he's had in years! Thanks man! We have some colorful personalities in this band and I guess it shows. Come check us out, we have a lot of scheduled dates.