Dave Grohl, The Storyteller

I'm generally not inclined to read memoirs. It's always an ego trip and it can be rather annoying to read. But when Dave Grohl published 'The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music' (October 2021), I immediately borrowed a digital copy from the library. Heh. I will decide if I want to buy a copy to keep later.

There's an unofficial Spotify playlist to this book. I loved it! Ahhh.... good songs, great rhythm. imho, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is such a gem because yes, Kurt Cobain, but it's also because of the drums. You could simply google Dave Grohl to find all the information you want. But this book is written in his voice, with his words, and that lends some genuine emotion to the filled pages. You wouldn't be reading this book unless you're a fan, or into grunge and rock musicology. 😬

I suppose this is what you do during the pandemic when you can't jam, practice, do shows or tour. You write a book. This isn't a dirt dig and tell. The 52-year-old rock star chose what he wishes to tell. Nirvana is always part of his life and early start to the grunge scene, but there's nothing else he would reveal that the public doesn't already know. He talks about his life, his philosophy, his politics and what he makes of it at this age. He is respectful of past romances, and doesn't shy away from how much he loves his wife Jordyn and their three daughters, Violet, Harper and Ophelia. (Reviews here, here, and here.) 

Dave Grohl is a musician whom I've noticed because of Nirvana. Nirvana wrote songs and sang of my teenage angst. Then came Foo Fighters that blew my mind away because I never figured Dave Grohl to be guitarist or a frontman. Years later, I still think he makes a way better drummer. Hahahaha. He's an amazing drummer, immensely talented. Yet he has never taken formal drum lessons. Dave Grohl who makes music I enjoy, and whatever he has chosen to share about his life on the road and his family, I quite like it. He hasn't had many scandals that rocked his career and or decreased his value as a human. Please stay this way.

I suppose I've always got a soft spot for Seattle because of the many bands I enjoy listening to. I'm not big on punk, but I'll take grunge and rock any day. All these bands sprouted from Seattle and the surrounding towns, all of them from Washington state. It's as though there's something in the fresh air and mountains that inspire thousands of musicians. Nirvana formed in Aberdeen in 1987. Foo Fighters came about in Seattle, 1994. 

At the end of the book in the chapter titled 'Conclusion', Dave Grohl paid tribute to his tour manager Gus Brandt and bandmates, Rami Jaffee, Chris Shiflett, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Pat Smear, and of course, his mother Virginia Grohl, all of which without whom Foo Fighters would not be the band we know today. He said he isn't a collector of anything, except for memories and moments. He collects them; this is a lovely way to put them down in writing, by way of collecting them in a coherent manner, and sharing a portion of his collected moments with us.

The crosswalk mentioned in the extract below, was a crosswalk in Chicago, that divides the forty-thousand-seater Wrigley Field from tiny Cubby Bear, a dimly lit little club that Dave Grohl went to watch his first gig (Naked Raygun) at 13 years old in the summer of 1982. That was the night he was inspired to walk the path of music. "It was that night that I had stepped out onto that crosswalk, and there was no turning back." Who would have known how momentous that became. 

That crosswalk had taken a lifetime to travel, but I was grateful for every step, still that same little boy with a guitar and a dream. Because I still forget that I've aged. My head and my heart still seem to playy this cruel trick on me, deceiving me with the illusions of youth as I greet the world every day through the idealistic, mischievous eyes of a rebellious child who constantly seeks adventure and magic. I still find happiness and appreciation in the most basic, simple things. And as I collect more little lines and scars, I still wear them with a certain pride, as they almost serve as a trail of bread crumbs, strewn across a path someday I will reply upon to find my way back to where I started. 

My tears had now dried, and I carefully entered the room on my two battered crutches to a giant communal embrace. The circle was now complete, and we had all made it to the other side of the crosswalk together, everyone grateful for life, music, and the people we love.

AND SURVIVAL.