THE STORYTELLER
Tales of Life and Music
by Dave Grohl
*On Sale: October 5, 2021*
EARLY PRAISE FOR THE STORYTELLER:
“Grohl candidly shares his reverence for the enduring power of music…Reflecting on his fame, Grohl writes, ‘I have never taken a single moment of it for granted.’ Paired with his sparkling wit, this humility is what makes Grohl’s soulful story a cut above typical rock memoirs. There isn’t a dull moment here.” ─ Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Grohl joyfully recounts his life in this memoir…Grohl bares his soul and shares his passion in this must-read memoir, which will resonate with music lovers and his fans.” ─ Library Journal, starred review
“Kinetic…Grohl writes with equal fervor about his path from ‘that guy from Nirvana’ to the leader of the uber famous Foo Fighters and his parenting experiences. An exciting read for fans and a remarkable perspective on the last 30 years of rock music.” ─ Booklist
Dey Street Books is thrilled to publish THE STORYTELLER by Grammy-winning musician, documentary filmmaker, and debut author Dave Grohl.
Dave Grohl has been one of the most beloved and respected figures on the international music scene since his recorded debut with Nirvana on 1991’s generation-defining Nevermind. Grohl took center stage with Foo Fighters’ 1995 self titled debut, the first of 10 albums in a massive 12-Grammy winning streak, most recently including the #1 album sales charting Medicine at Midnight. For more than three decades, Grohl has travelled the planet doing the thing he loves most playing rock n roll marathons for tens of thousands of ecstatic Foo Fighters fans. But when the pandemic necessitated going into lockdown, he took stock of how he might use this moment of pause. Channeling his creativity into writing and using his remarkable skill for storytelling, Grohl’s Instagram account @davestruestories was born. This new platform became a way for Dave to share his extraordinary stories with fans and fellow music nuts and now, he has written his first book.
THE STORYTELLER has finally provided Dave with the opportunity to shed some light on the fascinating life he has led while living out his dreams. From teaching himself to drum on pillows to leaving high school to tour European clubs and squats at 18 years old, his years in Nirvana and decades in Foo Fighters, playing with Tom Petty on Saturday Night Live, jamming with Iggy Pop, swing dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, having Paul McCartney over for a visit, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to the simple pleasures of family life…Dave shares his amazing world with readers while poignantly touching on the impact that his friends, bandmates, and family have had on him throughout the years.
THE STORYTELLER is as much a celebration of music as it is about the moments that have molded Dave into the man he is today. Dave says that every day is a blank page, waiting to write itself. THE STORYTELLER proves him a natural writer, with a life worthy of the 400 pages that make up this very special book. We are eager to share this book with fans and readers, and we can’t wait for this next chapter of Dave’s life, as an author, to begin.
“Since I was a child, I have always measured my life in musical increments rather than months or years. My mind faithfully relies on songs, albums, and bands to remember a particular time and place. From seventies AM radio to every microphone I’ve stood before, I could tell you who, what, where, and when from the first few notes of any song that has crept from a speaker to my soul. Or from my soul to your speakers. Some people’s reminiscence is triggered by taste, some people’s by sight or smell. Mine is triggered by sound, playing like an unfinished mixtape to be sent. Though I have never been one to collect ‘stuff,’ I do collect moments. So, in that respect, my life flashes before my eyes through my ears every single day. In this book, I’ve captured some of them, as best I can. These memories, from all over my life, are full of music, of course. And they can be loud at times. Turn it up. Listen with me.”
─ Dave Grohl from the Introduction of The Storyteller
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
DAVE GROHL, a 16-time Grammy-winning musician and 2-time Emmy-winning director, has been one of the most beloved and respected figures on the international music scene since his recorded debut with Nirvana on 1991’s generation-defining Nevermind. Grohl took center stage with Foo Fighters’ 1995 self titled debut, the first album in massive 12-Grammy-winning catalogue that now includes The Colour & The Shape (1997), There Is Nothing Left To Lose (1999), One By One (2002), In Your Honor (2005), Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007), Wasting Light (2011), Sonic Highways (2014), Concrete and Gold (2017) and, most recently, Medicine at Midnight (2021).
Grohl has a well-earned reputation as a prolific collaborator: His various endeavors have included “Cut Me Some Slack,” written and recorded with Paul McCartney and Grohl’s Nirvana bandmates Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear; Them Crooked Vultures, formed with Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Queens of the Stone Age’s Joshua Homme, late legends David Bowie and Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, as well as Mick Jagger, Neil Young, Elton John, Nine Inch Nails, Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen, to name a few. In 2013, Grohl made his debut as a feature director/producer with the acclaimed documentary Sound City. Named for the Van Nuys CA studio where Nirvana recorded Nevermind in 1991, which would sell more than 30 million copies and transform the modern musical landscape. Premiering to unanimous raves at Sundance and achieving a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating, Sound City focused both on the history of the legendary studio and on the ongoing fight to preserve the human element of music. Hailed by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone as an “exhilarating documentary about what makes life worth living,” by The New York Times as “candy to several generations’ worth of rock fans” and NPR as “a celebration of just how unbelievably awesome it is to make rock music for a living,” Sound City has since been certified as a Gold Longform Video by the RIAA, while the Sound City—Real To Reel companion album took the 2013 Grammys for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Rock Song (“Cut Me Some Slack”).
Grohl also directed the eight-part HBO docuseries Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, which premiered in October 2014 and went on to win two of the four Emmys for which it was nominated (outstanding sound mixing for nonfiction programming and outstanding sound editing for nonfiction programming). Described by Grohl as a love letter to the history of American music, Sonic Highways was comprised of eight one-hour episodes, each chronicling the creation of one song on Foo Fighters’ Sonic Highways album, each written and recorded in a different American musical landmark — Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
