Kevin Armbruster Inducted to Bluecoats Hall of Fame
We’re pleased to announce our newest inductee to the Bluecoats Hall of Fame: Kevin Armbruster. Kevin was selected by the Bluecoats Board of Directors.
Kevin Armbruster joined the Bluecoats before they were the Bluecoats. He was a member of the Canton Police Boys Club Drum & Bugle Corps before he was a teenager. Originally a saxophone player, Kevin was taught to play the soprano bugle for the Boys Club group. Kevin then became an original member of the Bluecoats when they were founded in 1972 but was not the only Armbruster to march. Brother Jeff marched snare in the original corps, Julie was in the guard in the 1970s and Amy, the youngest, marched in the late 1980s. Their father was the original Booster Club coordinator and designed one of the 1970s logos and designed the uniform used in the 1980s.
Kevin would continue on with Bluecoats as they became a competitive drum corps in 1974 and remained with the corps until it went inactive in 1979. With no drum corps to be a part of, Kevin moved on and marched with top 12 27th Lancers out of Revere, Massachusetts. After college, he returned to the Bluecoats as brass staff in 1982 and was a key part of the rebirth of the corps after it folded a second time in 1983.
Kevin remained as Brass Caption Head for the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons and was a key part of the corps' leap up the competitive ladder to make DCI Finals in 1987. Kevin met his future wife, Renee, in the Bluecoats. She was a guard member in the 1970s and both were on staff in the mid 1980s. They were married in 1986 in the presence of many of the members of the corps. He stepped away from the corps in the late 1980s to raise his family and focus on his career but has remained an ardent supporter of the corps. In 2018, Kevin arranged a special 40th anniversary edition of the 1970s corps favorite, Bridge over Troubled Water for the alumni ensemble Rhythm IN BLUE. He was appointed to the Bluecoats Alumni Council as the 1970s Representative in 2020.
