The JSD Band formed in 1969 and derived its name from the first letter of the first name of each of its three founding members: Jim Divers, Sean O’Rourke, and Des Coffield.
Initially, the band played the folk-club circuit with other artists such as Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty of the Humblebums, and Barbara Dickson.
After getting noticed for their lively electric-rock approach to traditional Scottish folk music when they won the Scottish Folk Group Championships at Edinburgh's Usher Hall, they made appearances on BBC Radio 1 with DJ John Peel and on BBC Two's Old Grey Whistle Test hosted by "Whispering" Bob Harris.
In 1971, the JSD Band released its first album entitled Country of the Blind on the Regal Zonophone label.
Both records were released on Lochshore, an imprint of KRL Records, a Glasgow-based label specializing in Scottish traditional music, In 2013, the band reformed and began playing again with all the original members and Rob Mairs, and remains intermittingly active through the present day.