BOLA MORALLO – DAHON front-man
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Can be heard on:
BLUESKRIEG: PINOY BLUES COMPILATION (Rebolusyon Records, 2007)


Like many people in the IPod era, I enjoy all kinds of music, and my ears are quite comfortable switching genres on the fly. Recently though, I experienced an essentially intense case of stylistic whiplash. While working on this writeup I spent most of my internet hours immersing myself in the psychedelic musical stuffs of Dahon, with Bola Morallo’s gritty but smooth voice narrating the stories they tell us.

Most Dahon fans can compare, or at least link their music to Led Zeppelin, Blind Melon, and other blues rock outfits. But it’s both the lively individual skills and the brotherly chemistry of the group that make us shrug in awe while thinking frigging hard what genre Dahon is at. And front-man Bola is obviously the first culprit. You can enumerate a number of sounds-like vocalists, Robert Plant, Shannon Hoon, Crispian Mills, Jeff Buckley, Janis Joplin, but his style is his own, I tell you.

How did he get to have his own style, then? First thing though, he didn’t start out as a band vocalist. He played guitars to Slayer and other death metal covers with friends when he was in high school. He also played bass from time to time. Time ages as he switched musical interests to classic rock, particularly those of Cream, Rolling Stones, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Blind Melon and The Beatles. He also switched to singing when in college when he formed, with former Bicolano JM Ursua, a band which after a few lineup changes, would be one of the greatest bands today.

Playing instruments before made him develop his approach to singing differently. Not only does he had a deeper understanding what each of the other members of his group’s specific musical roles and objectives are, he also retains the important qualities of an instrumentalist in making and playing a great song. Creating good harmony with guitarist Philip Albia while locking into a groove with bassist JM and drummer Kent Torres, whatever it may be, contributes to his fresh soulful singing, seemingly meaning every word of the song, usually leaving us in awe and purely satisfied. His voice quality is also unique, and I can say limited. But he doesn’t feel the limit as he plays around and even outside the limits of music, feeling everything in the process. Check out Dahon – Lipad Philip Lipad.

His lyrical works in Dahon are also masterpieces, creating lines so simple but direct, so short but clear. Dahon lyrics remind me of Willie Nelson’s ‘Crazy’, Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman No Cry’, and Asin’s ‘Lupa.’ Most of the time, simplicity is the key. Check out Dahon – Love Sh!t.

Bola is a great inspiration in our mini-world of music, as I listen to Dahon. Stories are always well received by a great storyteller. The band sounds very liberating, pushing boundaries for original music in its true form. They are planning to record and release their album this year. A must have collection, I tell you. I can’t wait!