Valley of the Dahls
By CHRIS HANSEN ORF
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While most folks about to hit the big 5-0 are settling comfortably into middle age, Cave Creek resident Jeff Dahl can be found on stages around the world rocking with more fury than punks half his age.

The legendary garage-rock and punk icon will celebrate his 50th birthday Saturday at Mesa's Hollywood Alley, when his own Jeff Dahl Band will perform with Texas Terri Bomb and Valley punk bands Hell on Heels, Slash City Dagger and Whiskey Bitch.

When Dahl began his musical odyssey on his native Oahu, Hawaii, in the 1960s, he never thought he'd still be making music into his 30s, let alone his 50s.

“Absolutely not,” Dahl laughs. “I recorded my first song, ‘Rock 'n' Roll Critic,’ literally two weeks after I bought my first guitar in 1976. I saw a little ad in one of the record stores saying, ‘Four-track studio, $5 an hour.’’

Dahl recorded five songs in five hours.

‘‘Then, six months down the line, somebody is starting an indie punk label,’’ he says. ‘‘They heard it and asked if they could release it, and I thought, ‘Wow, you can release records?’ ”

In the nearly 30 years since that fateful first session, Dahl played with legendary L.A. punk bands Vox Pop and Angry Samoans in the late 1970s and early '80s before moving to the Valley in 1990.

“I'd been out (to the Valley) a few times doing the Fountain Hills Triathlon,” says Dahl, an avid runner. “I just really liked the area and had my fill of L.A. — I'd done all the things I wanted to over there as far as music — and I really didn't need to be a part of that anymore, so I
just moved out here, and I don't regret the move at all.’’

Dahl immediately formed a band and continued the solo career that has seen him release more than 20 records.

“I think there's actually 23 or 24 now,” Dahl says of his solo albums. “Honestly, I don't keep track of that, but that's what they tell me.”
Dahl and his band's latest release, the terrific “Cursed, Poisoned, Condemned . . .,” is the first to feature new guitarist Frank Labor, a Valley musician who leads his own critically acclaimed punk outfit, Labor Party.

The Jeff Dahl Band, which also includes bassist Jason Smith and drummer Russ Covner, welcomed Labor as a second guitarist to play off of Dahl's aggressive vocals and power chord riffing.

Being that his first record predated The Ramones’ debut release, Dahl is one of the foremost authorities on American punk rock. In addition to being one of its founding figures, he also writes a column, reviews CDs and writes features on bands for Carbon 14 magazine.

But Dahl, who says, “I like all music if it's good music,” listens to everyone from The Stooges to country singer/songwriters Tift Merritt and Lucinda Williams and has his own definition of what punk rock is.

“(1930s blues singer) Robert Johnson was a punk rocker, Neil Young is a punk rocker,” Dahl says. “Johnny Cash was a punk rocker times 100. Lucinda Williams is a punk rocker as far as I'm concerned. Punk doesn't
have any constraints on it, no real definition.

“If you say it's punk, then it is.”

Jeff Dahl 50th Birthday Blast
With: Jeff Dahl Band, Texas Terri Bomb, Slash City Dagger, Hell on Heels, Whiskey Bitch
Where: Hollywood Alley, 2610 W. Baseline Road, Mesa
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
How much: $80
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