BOB DALZIEL (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)

Bob Dalziel (Bobby D.) Born in Victoria, B.C. March 11, 1950

Bob co-founded 'Rukus' as a group with former lead guitarist, Rod Arundell in 1981. He is the only original member and has been with the group as long as there was a group ('Rukus' disbanded in 1983 until 1988). Bob sings lead and plays rhythm guitar. He likes all types of music but 'Rock A Billy' is a personal favorite. Bob was heavily influenced by Elvis, The Beatles, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, etc. His favourite new groups are The Stray Cats, Darrel Higham and Cousin Harley. His all time favorite song is Elvis's 'Baby Let's Play House'.

Married to Brenda (the original 'Rukus' girl) for 30 years, they have two daughters, Lisa and Laurie, and three "Rukus" grandkids, Kalvyn, Halen and Lacy.

Bob has worked for the City of Victoria since 1974 and loves 1949 - 1951 Mercurys and baseball. Bob played organized baseball and fastball for 20 years before having to end his career due to back problems. Playing most positions, he was mainly a pitcher.

Bob is both the youngest and the oldest member of the group. His music hobby only goes to prove: you're never too old to Rock 'n Roll!

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 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. 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 Foundary Brass", a house band playing at "The Old Forge", now called "Legends", 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 Director/Producer of 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.

Today, Barry is President of Victoria Motion Picture School, has written his first book on filmmaking and gives 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 Pharoahs 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 Pharoahs, I remember
having to take the bus into town and stay overnight at the Attfields place
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)

 

Rukus would like to take this opportunity to welcome new bass guitarist Steve Hansen.  He's not exactly a stranger to us or the Victoria music scene. We feel very fortunate to have such a solid experienced musician join us. Below is a brief bio.

 

 

   I Started  playing in bands in the late 60's.  My first major influence was Roger Miller, but when the Beatles arrived, that was it!  I knew I would be a musician.  After a few years of accordion lessons, I switched to guitar, and then to bass. One of the first bands, based out of Nanaimo where I grew up, was Whisky Tree. We played Blues and Rock and Roll. Did the coffee house circuit, up and down the Island, usually on the same bill as another young guitarist named Valdy. Other 60's bands were Jacob Grin and a Nanaimo version of Steamboat.

The 70's and 80's brought bands like Northern Lights (country western), Phoenix (classic rock mix) with Dave Kissinger, Steamboat (classic rock mix) and Savanna Blue with Ed Wright.

Eventually I ended up with Dave and Bob in an earlier version of Rukus, along with Helen Davies, Steve Peabody and Brian Ferguson. I took some time off to concentrate on family. I got back into the music scene with Kickstart, another classic rock outfit. Then into a modern rock band named Little Black T for a few years, and an R&B band called The Ready Willing band and here I am back in Rukus, playing the music I started out with. It's 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 February 27, 2008 dk