The Gun Club was an American punk band from Los Angeles in the 1980s led by singer/guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. The Gun Club injected punk rock with doses of blues and country music. Along with X, The Flesh Eaters and The Blasters, they helped set the tone of the Hollywood rock scene of the 1980s and are cited as a "tribal psychobilly blues" band. The Gun Club was formed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, former head of the Blondie fan club in Los Angeles. ...show more

The Gun Club was an American punk band from Los Angeles in the 1980s led by singer/guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce. The Gun Club injected punk rock with doses of blues and country music. Along with X, The Flesh Eaters and The Blasters, they helped set the tone of the Hollywood rock scene of the 1980s and are cited as a "tribal psychobilly blues" band. The Gun Club was formed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, former head of the Blondie fan club in Los Angeles.

Joining him was Brian Tristan, who was later renamed Kid Congo Powers during his stint with The Cramps, Don Snowden, who was at the time a music critic for the Los Angeles Times, and Brad Dunning. Pierce played guitar and lead vocals, while Tristan took on lead guitar, Snowden on bass, and Dunning rounding out the quartet on drums. The band was originally a rockabilly band called The Cyclones lead by Pleasant Gehman on lead vocals, but Gehman departed after only one show. Adopting the name The Creeping Ritual, Pierce moved to vocals and they spent some time gigging at local venues.

Eventually, the group grew dissatisfied with their name and switched to The Gun Club, suggested by Pierce's flatmate, Black Flag and Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris. Kid Congo left before the recording of the first album to join The Cramps. He was replaced by Ward Dotson, who would play lead and slide guitar on the band's debut album. Snowden and Dunning also departed at this time, being replaced by two ex-members of The Bags, Rob Ritter and Terry Graham, respectively. ...show less