Over 50 years ago Jerry Osborne was inspired by Ken Pustelnik playing drums in a house off Lodge Causeway, Fishponds. He soon got together with Andy Golding and they watched the DEEP BLUE BAND in St Johns Church Hall, Lodge Causeway, Fishponds.

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Jerry and Andy were often out on the search for music and the first gig they saw was Uncle Bonnie's Jazz Club at the Corn Exchange (although they were too young to be there), it just had to happen! Their first experience was a band called The Pretty Things and the second one was Cream’s first tour, before they became famous! A life changing experience for them.

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Both of them went on to embark on a musical journey and they ended up in the same band, the Fabulous House Band in the late 80’s.

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Ken, the drummer moved on to the Groundhogs where he had a great deal of success.

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The Deep Blues band was now lying fallow. However, further down the road they reformed with the only original member, Butch, from Ridgeway Rd. Two guys from this reincarnation started the Blues Club in the Barton Vale Social Club in St Phillips about 25 years ago. This proved to be a great idea but the wrong venue. Subsequently it was moved to the back bar of the Naval Volunteer in King St Bristol. After a short while they contacted Jerry with a view to running it. At this point, there was a £1 entrance fee which was not popular with everybody and Jerry decided it would be better to let them in free, to let everyone have a drink, and take a pot round for contributions for the band and this proved to be more successful. However, all good things come to an end and the club had to move on, so Jerry decided to take it to the Bunch of Grapes in Denmark St. It proved to be a very successful and popular venue, but on the fourth change of management, it was time to go. Hence a move to the Portcullis in Fishponds, which was very popular with customers, in the semi-darkness of the Function Room, but eventually was stopped by the manager for financial reasons. After a short break a new home was found at the Spotted Cow on Lodge Causeway, and then returned to the Portcullis in 2014/15 Again, another new landlord forced the club to close temporarily, until Jerry was discovered by Helen, the new landlady at The Downend Tavern and it returned by popular demand! Starting again, at this fantastic venue, the Bristol Blues Club opened with Snatch it Back, the band formed by Ken Pustelnik, a fitting start to a new era of the Bristol Blues Club! 

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Sadly, after Covid and Lockdown struck the world, the Downend Tavern was finally forced to close it's doors permanently and we found a new venue, the Black Horse on Two Mile Hill Road, Kingswood.

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Moving forward, Jerry’s ambition is to have a successful evening, each week. Have a good band, enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience, spreading the word – Keep Live Music alive!

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Many thanks to everyone supporting us. It is truly a great place to be on a Tuesday evening. Keep coming, tell your friends. You can leave comments on our Bluenotes page on this site, or on our Facebook page.

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https://www.facebook.com/BristolBluesClub/