BOB DALZIEL (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)

Born in Victoria, March 11, 1950.  Bob co-founded "Rukus" as a group with former lead guitarist Rod Arundell in 1981. The only original member, Bob sings lead and plays rhythm guitar.  

He enjoys all types of music, but "Rock A Billy" is a personal favorite.  Heavily influenced by Elvis, The Beatles, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, etc.  His favorite new groups are Darrel Higham, The Stray Cats and Cousin Harley.

Bob's all time favorite song is Elvis' "Baby Let's Play House.".

Married to Brenda, the original 'Rukus' girl,  since 1975, they have two daughters, Lisa and Laurie, and four "Rukus" grandkids, Kalvyn, Halen, Lacy and Ryder.

Bob retired from the City of Victoria after 36 years.  He also played organized baseball and fastball locally for 20 years, playing most positions, but was mainly a pitcher.

Likes Chopped Mercs, Film Noir And Sky Blue.

DAVE KISSINGER (Lead Guitar, Vocals)

Dave got hooked on guitar one lunch hour in 1958 after listening to Don Beech and Bill Comerford play Poison Ivy and a couple of Everly Brothers songs in the school lunch room. By the age of 12 he had taught himself how to play "Torture" on his prized "Gemtone". Shortly after, he joined with several friends and began exploring songs by the Ventures, Wailers, Johnny and the Hurricanes and the Fireballs, to name just a few. Eventually someone suggested they play for an hour at a dance being held at the Club Soho. The Trojans, as they were now called, ended up playing most of the night and their first dance was in the bag. Over the next few years Dave played mainly for school and teen dances. In those days, bands played instrumentals only.

In the early 60's bands started doing vocals, mainly on the influence of the Beatles. A band called R.P.M. and the Regents was formed fronted by Raymond Peter May who had an English accent, pointed Beatle boots and "longer hair"!! The group was very successful throughout the 60's.  In 2008, Dave was honoured by his peers and inducted into The Victoria Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with fellow members of "The Regents"

In the late 70's and 80's, Dave joined Phoenix playing Eagles, BTO, Police, Chicago, CCR, Van Morrison in addition to the earlier R&B standards and even a "country" set.

Dave has been with Rukus since the early 90's. He has a strong appreciation for every type of music and has enjoyed the challenge of doing authentic versions of the material Rukus plays.

BARRY CASSON (Percussion)

Rukus drummer Barry Casson has been actively playing drums since age 16. In the 60's he played in a number of local bands including "The Twisters", "The Cavaliers", "The Idols" and was drummer and one of the founding members of "Bobby Faulds and the Strangers".

Bobby and the Strangers with Barry on drums and well-known local musician David Foster on piano, left for England in 1966 and played major venues all over The British Isles, France and Germany.  Some of the gigs included touring as the band behind Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and The Drifters on their British tours.

Upon returning to Victoria in 1967, Barry was on drums as a member of "The Foundry Brass", a house band playing at "The Old Forge"  in the Strathcona hotel. Teaching drums and studying photography occupied his spare time.

In 1971 Barry began to pursue photography more seriously which led to becoming a newspaper photographer for The Colonist Newspaper, a TV news cameraman with CHEK Television and studying film in Hollywood. Barry has Directed and produced over 60 films and videos through his own company. During this time he kept his music active gigging with a number of local dance bands.

In 1989, Barry along with his business partner Donna Clausen formed Victoria’s first film school.  Barry still enjoys giving speaking presentations on film to a variety of high schools, colleges and business groups - that is when he is not playing with Rukus.

On September 17 of 2005, Barry was honoured by his peers and was inducted into the Victoria Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early member of the legendary Pharaohs. It was a great honour and brought back many fond memories of those early days.

"I remember that one of my first professional gigs was playing with a group from Sidney called "The Twisters". We got a gig at Island View Beach Restaurant. I believe we were each paid $2.00 for the evening.

The Pharaohs were also playing there and their drummer at the time (before I joined them) was Terry Budd. Terry and myself decided to do a drum battle on the porch of the restaurant. We went at it non stop for 45 minutes. There was no real winner as we both lasted the entire time, but what a thrill it was.

Later when Terry left and I was offered the job with Pharaohs. I remember having to take the bus into town and stay overnight at the Attfield’s house on Derby road where we would rehearse all weekend.

I was so proud to be asked to play with them, after all they were my idols watching them on Check TV's Club 6 every Friday night. Ron Attfield was telling me at the reunion that they still have some of the recordings we made in the basement of Norm Winquist's house in 1960."

Steve Hansen (Bass, Vocals)

 

".My first major influence, was "Roger Miller" but when the " Beatles arrived on the scene, I knew that was it, I would be a musician. After a few years of accordion lessons, I switched to guitar , then bass.  The first band that I played in, was "Whiskey Tree". This Nanaimo based band played up and down the island during the mid 60's on the Coffee House circuit. Other 60's bands I played in were, "Jacob Grin" and "Steamboat".
 
  The 70's and 80's brought bands like the "Northern Lights" (Country), "Phoenix" (classic rock), with Dave Kissinger, "Steamboat"(classic rock from Victoria), and "Savanna Blue" with Little Ed Wright.

  Eventually I joined Dave and Bob in an earlier version of Rukus, along with Helen Davies, Steve Peabody and Brian Ferguson. I left to take some time off for Family, then got back into the music scene with "Kickstart"(classic rock, R&B). Other recent bands include the "Ready Willing Band"(classic rock) and "Little Black T"(modern rock). So now here I am back with Rukus, playing the music I started out with. Its good to be playing with such a great bunch of guys. 

MARTY ADAMS (Keyboard, Vocals)

Born in London, England, keyboardist and vocalist Marty Adams grew up with both the British Invasion and the era of Northwest Rock in the 1960's. He lists Northwest bands such as 'The Wailers', 'The Sonics' and 'The Viceroys' as early Rock 'n' Roll musical influences. His all-time favorite singer is Del Shannon of whom he has an extensive collection of recordings, music and memorabilia.

During the sixties, Marty played in a number of local bands including the Beau Gentry, the Mixed Emotions and the Hidden Fifth. This was during the era of Victoria clubs such as the Purple Onion, which regularly featured local bands as well as top name Northwest bands from the United States.

After embarking on a teaching career in 1968, Marty got out of organized bands in the early seventies and focused on choral directing and many aspects of musical theatre. In the mid eighties he was invited to join 'Doc & The Doo Wops', a fledgling musical group made up of Victoria Operatic Society members. This group developed into the number one nostalgia/show band in Victoria over a period of ten years, ending with a final outdoor performance at the Commonwealth Games in 1994.

During that time, and for three years after, Marty played in a trio called Third Avenue. His opportunity to join Rukus came in June of 2001 with a phone call from guitarist Dave Kissinger, asking him if he was the same old fellow who used to play in bands in the 1960's.

This Page last updated January 17,2012 dk