The Gun Club was a post-punk/cowpunk band from Los Angeles, California that existed from 1979 to 1996. Led by flamboyant singer and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, The Gun Club merged the contemporary genre of punk rock with the more traditional genres of rockabilly and country music.

Along with X, The Flesh Eaters and The Blasters, they are cited as a "tribal psychobilly blues" band.

History

Fire of Love and Miami (1979-1982)

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, now a prominent designer and writer. Pierce, Tristan and Dunning were good friends having met at various early punk gigs and frequented the Capitol Records parking lot record swapmeet. 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 led by Pleasant Gehman on lead vocals, but Gehman departed after only one show which was at Gazzarri's, a club on the Sunset Strip and their opening act was The GoGos.