REVIEW: The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

by |October 5, 2021
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“You’d better be good”. These are the words Virginia Hanlon Grohl told her son when he told her he wanted to drop out of high school to go touring in a punk rock band. Had she reacted differently, and pleaded with him not to, perhaps the journey of one of the greatest rock stars may have gone down a completely different path. Thankfully, her support was the right call for the music world, even if they didnt know it at the time.

Dave Grohl

Dave Grohl (Photo by Magdalena Wosinska).

Dave Grohl is arguably one of the biggest rock stars of the past three decades. Having been a member of Nirvana, one of the greatest bands of the 90s (their album Nevermind is one of the biggest selling of all time, with 30 million copies sold), and then going on to form Foo Fighters, he has cemented his status as a rock legend and icon.

We have always known that Grohl was a gifted writer, having written amazing songs like “Everlong”, “My Hero”, “The Pretender”, “Best of You” and “Learn to Fly” (to name a few). In The Storyteller, he turns his talents away from writing the next bestselling album to give us a glimpse into his life, how he came to fall in love with music, and what led to where he is now.

Grohl describes his childhood and teen years in Virginia, where he first learnt to play the drums with only one lesson, practicing playing the drums with pillows, forming a band with his friends Dain Bramage (yes you’re reading that right), as well as an unusual talent where he used his teeth to keep in rhythm and as he described it to an orthodontist – playing the drums with his teeth!

Dave shares his uneasy decision to upend his life and follow his dreams to join the punk rock band Scream in the late 80s, joining Nirvana in the early 90s and being catapulted to mainstream audiences for the first time after the success of mega hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. He also goes into the eventual collapse of the band after the death of Kurt Cobain, and how he coped with that tragedy.

Of course there is plenty on the Foo Fighters and all the crazy adventures from some of his various tours over the years, which includes a chapter about a tour in the Gold Coast in 2000 which resulted in a drunk driving arrest. There’s also great stories of fatherhood and the love and pride he has for his daughters, and a wonderful father/daughter moment when his daughter Harper asks if he can teach her to play the drums.

The Storyteller is an enjoyable read — funny, honest and full of amazing personal tales and anecdotes about a man who has created music that is loved by millions around the world. A perfect read for anyone who enjoyed Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, Jimmy Barnes’ Working Class Boy or Anthony Kiedis’ Scar Tissue.

The Storyteller by Dave Grohl (Simon & Schuster Australia) is out now.

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The Storytellerby Dave Grohl

The Storyteller

Tales of Life and Music

by Dave Grohl

So, I’ve written a book. Having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities (‘It’s a piece of cake! Just do four hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!’), I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand.

The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I’ve recorded and can’t wait to share with the world...

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