Audiobook Review: ‘The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music’

I’ve read more nonfiction this year than I think in all previous years combined, and I wanted to read one last nonfiction before the end of 2021 – and what better story than that of musician Dave Grohl – best known as the drummer of Nirvana and frontman of Foo Fighters. I thought this was an incredible story – Dave has a way with words, as lyric writers do – and it’s worth a read even if you aren’t a diehard Nirvana or Foo Fighters fan.

Title: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music
Author: Dave Grohl
Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

Goodreads Summary

I’ve always been a casual fan of Foo Fighters. I’ve not yet had the chance to see them in concert, but I hope to change that in 2022. But besides that – I love that so many musicians have released memoirs in the past few years. These are living legends and we get to hear about their life through their own words. I find that super fascinating.

In this book, Dave tells about his life from growing up in Virginia with his single mother, who could afford enough but their family couldn’t afford luxuries. He taught himself how to drum on pillows in his bedroom by listening to records. I love learning how musicians began their journey – especially when they were average normal kids, living an average middle class life in suburban America.

Dave spoke of what led him to first auditioning for the band Scream, and his life touring with them for many years, to auditioning to become Nirvana’s new drummer. I’m going to be honest – when I first learned of Dave Grohl in the mid-2000’s as a teenager, I knew of him as the singer from Foo Fighters – I didn’t know of him as Nirvana’s drummer. I learned so much through this book about his time with Nirvana and despite not being old enough to appreciate Nirvana while they were active, I can appreciate them now for what they did for music.

I love learning how Dave was able to balance touring life with starting a family and now has three daughters – the way he speaks about his family shows he would do anything for those girls.

That’s the thing I loved most about this book – seeing Dave Grohl as a normal guy – a father, a husband, nobody special. He’s humble in all of his stories of meeting the many musicians he looked up to as a kid.

As any lyricist does, Dave has a way with words and that transcends into the written words in this book. He tells his stories in a wonderful way. I was smiling through many of them.

I think this is a fantastic story for any music fan. While I don’t play music myself, I’ve always enjoyed attending concerts. Learning more about Dave Grohl has really increased my respect for him and I look forward to the day I can see the Foo Fighters on stage myself.

Dave Grohl himself narrates this book and I absolutely recommend listening to this one over reading the physical print book. I love when authors narrator their own stories, especially when its a memoir and hearing his voice speak these words added an entirely new layer. Highly recommend the audiobook.

I stayed on 2x speed, slow for me but with nonfiction I prefer to go slower than with fiction.

My Rating:

I went into this book an average Dave Grohl fan, and left eager to see the next possible Foo Fighters concert (they’re playing Citi Field in NYC Summer 2022 – I have my eye on this show now!). If you’re a rock music fan at all, this is a must read. I found this incredible insightful and inspiring, and also hopeful for the future. I can’t wait to see what Dave Grohl does next and I look forward to seeing his daughters might do in the world of music too. It clearly runs in his family.

Advertisement