Dave Grohl Memoir

Dave Grohl, Musician and Storyteller

Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl can light-up a stadium. Trust me, I’ve seen it. There’s no question the former Nirvana basher has a way with eating drum sets alive and screaming Foos’ hits before tens of thousands of fans for hours (when the band tours, they sometimes play for 3). Grohl also has a way with words.

I met the band in 2015 when they came to Grohl’s birth city, Warren, OH, to celebrate Record Store Day. They played a private show at The Record Connection, a small record store in nearby Niles, five minutes from my house. I did not meet them there, though. I met them at David Grohl Alley in downtown Warren, an alleyway behind small shops lining the plaza. The alley features artwork of Grohl done on the building’s rear, alley-facing brick facades.

Band members filed out of a black, window-tinted party bus sipping Coronas. They walked around the alley and mingled with fans. My then-gf took a picture with legendary punk guitarist, Pat Smear. After the photo, Smear said, “Sorry, I almost burned your arm with my cigarette.”

I took an awkward pic with Foos’ drummer, Taylor Hawkins. He was wearing a drenched cutoff T and still breathing heavy after playing the gig at The Record Connection. Dave Grohl, however, did not join the band on their rambling escapade through Warren. He was supposedly visiting another landmark. While I have yet to meet the man, I consider him a massive inspiration in my own musical endeavors.

“There is a common thread that runs throughout everything that I do: storytelling.”

In March 2020, I came across Dave Grohl’s Instagram account, @davestruestories. 

Pandemic boredom prompted Grohl to write and post delightful true stories of his career as a touring musician. Now, the multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter plans to release an archival memoir of such stories in October, 2020, titled “The Storyteller.”

“There is a common thread that runs throughout everything that I do: storytelling. Whether in song, documentary film or on the page, I have always felt compelled to share moments from my life. This inclination is a huge part of what excites me creatively but also as a human being,” Grohl stated in a press release.

He also spoke about releasing those first few true stories on Instagram. Grohl stated, “I soon found that the reward I felt every time I posted a story was the same as the feeling I get when playing a song to an audience, so I kept on writing. The response from readers was a soul-filling as any applause in an arena. So, I took stock of all the experiences I’ve had in my life-incredible, difficult, funny and emotional-and decided it was time to finally put them into words.”

The memoir idea never ventured far from his thoughts. Fans and rock lovers have been busting his chops about it for years. I’d go on record saying the dude has been busy, well, writing and performing music (not to mention directing documentary films). Dave Grohl told Entertainment Weekly, “You know years ago I was at a barbecue and I met a book agent, and he said, ‘Have you ever considered writing a book?’ and I said, ‘Well, of course, someday.’ And he said, ‘It’s really easy – you’ll do four or five hours of interviews and someone else will write it in your voice and it will be great.’ And I thought. ‘F*** that?’ I come from a family of writers, and granted I’m a black sheep but I’m not that bad, my God.”