The Farnham Country Blues Club was organized by Jeffrey Kime and Jerry Gilbert and ran for just under two years, from ’69 to ’70.

In ’68, Gilbert had put on the first major British country blues festival in Farnham, and this was the impetus for a Country Blues Club. The club met fortnightly at The Albion Hotel, Farnham and consistently drew greater than capacity crowds. There were also special events, such as when Delta Bluesmen visited Britain. One such event went down on 28 February ’69 when the club hosted an event at Church House on Union Street, Farnham that featured Mississippi Fred McDowell with Ian Anderson’s Country Blues Band, John James, along with Mick Moffett and Pete Taylor.

28 February 1969: Ian Anderson’s Country Blues Band at the Farnham Country Blues Club event. Source: Ian Anderson via Historic Farnham Town and Surrounding Villages

More recently, in 2007, the club gets a passing mention in Roberta Freund Schwartz’s book “How Britain Got the Blues: The Transmission and Reception of American Blues Style in the United Kingdom.”

Gallery:

28 February 1969: Farnham Country Blues Club presents Mississippi Fred McDowell. Source: Ian Anderson via Historic Farnham Town and Surrounding Villages