Book Review: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music - by Dave Grohl
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music
By Dave Grohl
Release Date: October 4th, 2021
Publisher: Day Street Books
I’ve learned over the past few weeks that Dave Grohl and I actually have a lot in common. We both grew up in suburbia, finding solace in the comfort of sleepy towns and the placidity of everyday life. We both have some form of Attention Deficit Disorder, not finding oneself in the traditional public school system in search of something more fulfilling (I kid you not, I can actually play the drums with my teeth too, as he remarks in one of the early chapters of the book). We had a fondness for watching Saturday Night Live every weekend. But most importantly, we found our worlds in music, and felt that despite the comfort that suburbia offered, we longed for something more. The only difference? Grohl had the fortitude to take off and leave suburbia behind, embarking on that search for something more, as he details in The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music, a memoir written by one of the most seminal voices in rock and roll music today.
Grohl details his upbringings in Virginia in vivid detail before recounting tales of his joining the hardcore punk act Scream as their drummer, embarking on a tour that allowed him to see the country. If it weren’t for that tour, he wouldn’t have linked up with musicians Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselich, who were in the market for a new drummer for their band, Nirvana. You know, that Nirvana. The one that changed the face of alternative rock music forever, ushering in the wave of grunge rock that swept the world in the early 90s. However, those hoping for details surrounding the working dynamic of the band, or any details surrounding the untimely passing of Cobain should know that this is not that kind of book. He speaks fondly of his former bandmates, but there is no gossip here; this is Grohl’s story, showing him dealing with the aftermath of the loss and how the end of Nirvana led him to where he is today.
Some of the stories that Grohl infuses into the pages of The Storyteller are wild, including the time he and his bandmate drove across country to Pantera’s strip club in Texas (you read that sentence correctly), as well as the moment when he fell off the stage at a festival in 2015 and breaking his leg, only to return to the stage and finish out the show sitting down. If you follow Foo Fighters at all, you’ll remember the “altar” the Grohl sat on throughout an entire tour while his leg was healing, looking like something out of Game of Thrones if guitars were the axe of choice. Throughout this collection of stories, The Storyteller paints a picture of one of the world’s biggest rock stars, who comes as just a fan like everybody else. In the later chapters of the book, as he fills us in with stories about his family life, famous musician after famous musician appear, but it never feels like someone whose name-dropping just to show off. Grohl is a genuine fan of Paul McCartney, of Joan Jett, of Lemmy, and he tells these stories in the same way that I think most of us fans would: with wide-eyed wonder and astonishment (the difference being that most of us probably are never going to share the stage with Sir Paul.)
My personal favorite chapter comes towards the end, where Grohl is retelling the story in which he traveled around the world from an Australia tour to make it in time for the daddy-daughter dance at his girls’ school, and then immediately getting back on a plane to travel back to Australia and hit the stage just in time for another sold-out show to begin in front of thirty-thousand screaming Foo Fighters fans. It’s an amazing story, but I won’t spoil all of the details. You’ll have to read the book for yourself to find out.
(P.S., Hi Dave. Loved the book. On the off chance you read this, I noticed that you’re coming to Sacramento, CA on December 7th. I’ve been a music photographer for the last eleven years and wouldn’t you know it, I’ve never shot a Foo Fighters show. You wouldn’t happen to have a photo pass, would you?…)
Click here to order The Storyteller.
