The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I was 12 years old the year Nirvana released “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991. Nirvana was not my absolute “favorite” band, but watching MTV in my aunt’s bedroom, seeing that dirty, dark gymnasium with out of control cheerleaders and rioters led by a long haired dirty guitar player is by far the most memorable moment in music to me.

I was used to Headbanger’s Ball: Ricky Rachman showing videos late at night: Skid Row, Motley Crüe, Anthrax, Guns N Roses, Pantera, Metallica… various other metal bands that made me wear a not-as-zippery-as-I-wanted leather jacket and black nail polish while pretending I could play guitar using air.

Seeing this video showed me things were shifting… fast. Seemingly overnight, flannel was replacing leather and the gravelly voices of Kurt and Eddie were replacing high pitched tenors like Sebastian Bach and Tom Kiefer. I started wearing knock off Doc Martens and my granddad’s army jacket. I was “moody.” I was now “alternative.”
All that above to say: music shapes us differently, and listening to Dave Grohl’s audiobook “The Storyteller” is worth posting about. Knowing another confused kid out there suffered trials and tribulations to achieve his goals, multiple times, makes for such a good read/listen.
It’s hard to believe over 30 years have gone by since I went from New Kids on the Block, to Metallica, to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Beck, and Soundgarden.

I was too young to have experienced the punk scene and I didn’t know of one in Mississippi anyway, but grunge was for (insert italics) me. Camelot Music, bootleg tape dubbing off “Q102 The Edge” on Friday nights, and BMG mail order cds fed my need for Hole, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, and The Pixies, which, among others, got me mentally through high school.
The book doesn’t focus on one aspect, such as Nirvana or Kurt, but spans his entire life starting from learning to drum using pillows.

ANYWAY, as you can see, I’m only halfway through and ready to recommend it to anyone who has any sort of reminiscence to the era included in this post. Thanks, Dave. 🖤



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