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Blues Jams Find New Venue

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By TOM BRENNAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

VALRICO - The popular blues jams that sizzled Tuesday nights at a local Irish pub have moved a little farther down the road.

Players are now putting down their licks at J.F. Kicks Bar & Grill, 3345 Lithia-Pinecrest Road.

The jams started five years ago, and J.F. Kicks is their fourth venue. The musicians moved there Aug. 5 after spending the past 11 months at O'Toole's Irish Pub and Restaurant on Brandon Boulevard.

"We were looking for a little more space," said Tommy Bell, the jams' organizer.

Bell also said the musicales outgrew the pub and noted there were financial considerations in the switch but didn't elaborate.

"You couldn't get another person in the place," he said. "We were packed to the rafters."

Bell and his band, The Bellcasters, open the jams each Tuesday night by playing a few songs. Then musicians from the audience step up to perform.

Don Hartley, J.F. Kick's general manager, said Bell approached him about the move, and he readily agreed.

"I love that kind of music, and we have a little more space," he said. "We were glad to accommodate them."

The music starts at 8:30 p.m. and runs nonstop to about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday mornings.
Harley said his club has room for "a couple of hundred" people inside, plus a large patio.

The jams started at the now-defunct Smoking Dog on U.S. 301 in Riverview, then moved to O'Brien's Irish Pub and Restaurant at Lumsden Road and Kings Avenue before moving to O'Toole's.

"We wouldn't be able to keep doing this if it weren't for the fans and musicians who keep following us around," Bell said.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 657-4528 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

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