Nashville talent agent and festival booker Steve Dahl has passed away, Billboardhas learned. He was 71.
“We’re deeply saddened to learn of Paradigm agent Steve Dahl’s passing last night,” a statement from Paradigm reads.
Dahl was the head of fairs & festivals for Paradigm. Having opened Monterey Peninsula Artists’ Nashville division in 1986, he has worked with Toby Keith, Aerosmith, Travis Tritt, The Steve Miller Band, Montgomery Gentry, Black Eyed Peas, Sawyer Brown, Huey Lewis, Ricky Skaggs, Grand Funk Railroad, Doobie Brothers, Lyle Lovett, The Black Crowes and many more.
“He was an extraordinary presence at this agency and in the Nashville music community, and will be deeply missed,” the statement reads.
He served stints as VP and Director-At-Large for the Academy of Country Music, and also served on the boards of the International Association of Fairs & Expositions, the International Entertainment Buyers Association, and the Country Music Association and was a two-time Pollstar Awards nominee for Third Coast Agent of the Year. Steve also served as an active volunteer for Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital Radiology of Stars program.
“Before he was an agent, Steve was the singer, frontman and trumpet player for The Red Dogs, a rhythm & blues band that toured widely and recorded for ATCO/Atlantic Records in the 1960s,” the statement from Paradigm reads. “The Red Dogs have been inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame, the Nebraska Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Iowa Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and the South Dakota Rock & Roll Music Association Hall of Fame.”
Dahl is survived by wife Beth, with whom he had one son and one daughter.
“Steve’s family are in our thoughts today as we remember him. Details about memorial arrangements and donations will be forthcoming from Steve’s family,” explains the Paradigm statement.
