Entertainment

RUST BUCKET  OTTAWA’S ROCK OF AGES

 By Dan Lalande

“I still love the sound of a band when it comes together,” bassist Wayne Bartlett says excitedly. “That thump in the chest.”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!—like that song by John Lee Hooker that Wayne and his bandmates, collectively known as Rust Bucket, blare from the bandstand. “We don’t do the standard cover band tunes,” Bartlett explains. “We play stuff that people don’t know that they know until they hear it.”

That’s people in bars, at street parties and other gatherings in and around the Ottawa area, whenever they need proof that the heart of rock ’n’ roll, even if it’s in a bunch of bodies between the ages of 58 and 66, is still pounding.

Their band’s name is Rust Bucket, but onstage, rockers Wayne Barlett, Mark Ettinger, Mike Kollar and Bobby Boucher don’t sound rusty. Loud? Absolutely.

Rust Bucket might sound like a fitting name for a gang of aging rockers but there’s nothing rusty about them … at least, not anymore. Before Wayne co-founded the band, however, he hadn’t picked up his bass in over 20 years. He was busy running Bartmart Audio, the 28-year-old production facility he passed on to younger interests in 2023. He had paid his dues, work was thinning and his hobbies, from scuba diving to race car driving, were calling. While working over an engine, Wayne met Mark Ettinger. When talk turned to music, Wayne and Mark discovered another mutual interest: rockin out. Both had been a part of the Ottawa band scene of the 80s and 90s.

Wayne had been a key member of such legendary local acts as Johnny and the X-Men and Joe Gatineau and the Mont Bleu Rockers, winning a number of radio-sponsored band competitions and opening for headliners like Frozen Ghost and The Pursuit of Happiness. Mark, a drummer versed in classic rock, folk, alternative, rockabilly and blues, had shared the stage with Uriah Heep, April Wine and Loverboy, among others.

Lead guitarist Mike Kollar.

Once Wayne and Mark started jamming in the latter’s barn in Hallville, something re-ignited for the both of them. They recruited another old hand, guitarist Mike Kollar, to join the fold. Kollar had honed his fine-tuned style in The High Society Blues Band and other outfits before devoting himself to other types of craftsmanship, like custom-building wooden boats.

All the power trio needed now was a lead singer to play behind. When Bobby Boucher, a veteran of Canadian music tribute and prog rock bands, auditioned, they knew they had their man.  “He was the perfect fit,” says Wayne. “He had the right fire in the belly.”

Lead singer Bobby Boucher.

Fire is important; so’s versatility. Rust Bucket might be a tight unit, but their sound is ambitious and expansive; on any given night, you’ll hear the best B-sides of Pink Floyd, ZZ Top and other iconic rockers not everyone can imitate.

One-man bassist-soundman Wayne loves the band’s three-piece-and-a-singer arrangement. “It gives everyone a lot of room, a certain openness. It also creates a lot of pressure—but that’s fun too!” The other guys are all-in as well. Says the equally energized Mark, “I’m having the time of my life!” Adds the usually quiet Mike Kollar, “This has rekindled a passion I can’t believe I lived without for so long. I’m loving the music that we’re playing together!”

Wayne Bartlett.

Better to be an old rocker than a younger one then? Absolutely, according to Wayne: “When you’re young, you need to party and schmooze a lot ’cause that’s how you climb the ladder. When you’re older, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Also, in your 20s, you’ll take any gig that comes along because you think it might get you somewhere. Now, you can be more discriminating.” The band, in fact, has a strict arrangement: if any member doesn’t like a prospective gig or song for any reason, it’s automatically off the books.

“That’s what I missed most about being in bands,” says Wayne. “The solidarity. Yeah, you can have differences, but the camaraderie usually holds.”

Rust Bucket is at the forefront of the current renaissance in seasoned musical ensembles. The Ottawa Area Bands page of Facebook is teeming with rock ’n’ roll survivors and now-or-never wannabes. Don’t believe what Rust Bucket’s cheeky publicity photo, where they’re sitting at the foot of a mile-high pile of discarded steel, suggests. Nobody with the music in their blood is ready for the junk heap.

“I’m back in touch with an elemental part of me,” Wayne boyishly boasts. “I’m over the moon to still be playing good, solid, loud rock and roll well into my 60s. No plans to stop anytime soon!” www.rustbucketband.ca

 

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!