Walk through the doors to III Forks Steakhouse on any given Friday or Saturday night and one of the first things you’ll notice is the timeless music coming from the jazz trio set up next to the bar. If you have an ear for it, you might even catch the subtle splish-splash of the cymbals or an understated fill on the snare.

That polished sound didn’t come about by accident. The drummer, Dude Kahn, has spent most of his life honoring his craft. His music career spans five decades and every musical genre from big band music to rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues. He saw the world through a windshield while on the road with rockabilly greats like Sonny James and Gene Vincent, and worked the Vegas strip during its heyday in the early ’60s as part of various lounge acts and show bands.

After a 20-year hiatus from music, as a broadcast time salesman for just about every local radio station in town, the North Dallas musician has found a steady gig playing the pop standards that were big when he was starting out in the music business 50 years ago.

“Look at me, I’m 66, and I’m playing drums. It’s keeping my head above the water and I’m doing what I love.”

His first love has always been music, and that has everything to do with his father, whose extensive collection of 78s introduced him to the enchanting big band music of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Lionel Hampton and the Dorsey Brothers. When he was about 12 years old, he and his dad became regulars at the jazz at the Philharmonic concert series held at the State Fair Auditorium. The endless string of jazz greats hit a crescendo for Kahn a couple of years later when he witnessed a drum battle between Buddy Rich and Gene Kupra.

“That was it for me.”

At 14 he took up the drums in a trio with two Hillcrest High School seniors and began playing assemblies in front of crowds of his classmates.

“People would just cheer and yell and applaud, and so I was snake-bitten.”

Pretty soon he was sneaking out at night to play, with black rhythm and blues bands around town. The Dallas music scene he describes is a distant memory today, with a swank live music venue on every corner offering all genres and configurations of musical ensemble. He says he was playing drums for R&B singer Joe Johnson at Club Vegas on Oak Lawn when he met then-unknown owner of the club, Jack Ruby.

“Well, from my standpoint he was a really nice guy. He had a lisp. I remember that. He was a character. I remember he had two little dogs that were always running around his feet,” he says. “And I remember when all the Kennedy stuff came down, I thought to myself , ‘Jack Ruby?’ It just didn’t make any sense to me.”

Dude got his big break while playing at a country and western club on Samuel Boulevard. The steel guitarist he was playing with used to work with Sonny James, who had just released the number one hit single, “Young Love,” and was looking for a drummer to go on tour with him. Dude was 16 at the time and had to choose between the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and high school. Luckily, his dad shared his passion for music and he spent the next two years crisscrossing the country headlining one-nighters at auditoriums and armories.

Package shows were the rage at the time. Several “record” acts (acts with songs on the record charts) would be booked on the same night. As a result, Dude’s band would routinely get booked along side Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. And since those acts didn’t always tour with a full band, Dude had the opportunity to play drums behind the soon-to-be rock ‘n’ roll icons.

During a stop at Beaumont, Tx. Dude remembers sitting by the hotel swimming pool with Jerry Lee Lewis, who was an opening act at the time.

“Before he had a hit record they would use him for a show opener because he was so exciting. He would come out there and just bang the hell out of the piano with his blonde hair flying everywhere, and he’d get everybody cranked up.”

Lewis told Dude that he was sick of being an opening act and that he had a record coming out that would propel him to the next level of stardom. Lewis said the name of the song was “It’ll Be Me.”

“And I said ‘Great, what are you doing on the flip side? He said it was a throwaway number, ‘Whole Lotta’ Shakin’ Going On.’ It was the biggest hit he ever had.”

Dude eventually got tired of the constant touring and the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. When he was 25 he became a full-time student at North Texas University in Denton and graduated with a degree in finance. From 1970 until 1990 he rarely played his vintage 1964 Ludwigs. Then one day an old music buddy, Tommy Loy, a trumpet player who used to play the national anthem before Dallas Cowboy games, called him to see if he was up for a gig.

So I dug the drums out of my closet, and one thing led to another and next thing you know I’m playing. And I decided I never wanted to go back in an office again.”

Dude is currently appearing with The Henry Munoz Trio at Gene Street’s III Forks Steakhouse every Friday and Saturday night from 7-11 p.m.