Dave Grohl surprised fans on Tuesday morning with the release of an 11-minute upload entitled “The Storyteller” on the Foo Fighters YouTube channel. The video wasn’t for some bonus track off the band’s latest album, Medicine At Midnight, but instead presented a preview of Grohl’s forthcoming book, The Storyteller. The collection of autobiographical stories is set to arrive on October 5th via Day Street Books, an imprint of the William Morrow Group at HarperCollins.
Rather than an outright autobiography, The Storyteller promises to deliver a collection of stories and memories “of a life lived loud,” as Grohl wrote in a statement. From his early days growing up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. to embarking on his musical journey at 18, the book will deliver the inside stories from one of the happiest men that helped produce one of the 1990s’ angriest bands. The Storyteller is filled with tales of encounters with fellow rock n’ rollers including David Bowie, Tom Petty, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop, Paul McCartney, and more, in addition to all of the unbelievable places Grohl’s music has taken him, including the White House.
The announcement of The Storyteller didn’t come entirely out of the blue. Back in March 2020, shortly after the pandemic had derailed Foo Fighters’ 25th anniversary Van Tour, Grohl started the Instagram account @davestruestories. Though admittedly not the strongest writer, the charismatic frontman started the account to maintain a connection with his fans at a time when so many people were experiencing authentic feelings of isolation. The account hosted stories about his childhood, his English teacher mother, fireworks, Ozzfest, and much more. Now, rather than posting his reflections in impossibly small print on Instagram, Grohl has bound them together as The Storyteller.
In the excerpt, which is also available on the @davestruestories Instagram page, Grohl examines his early relationship with a tape recorder. What was formerly just a device for listening to punk rock cassettes became a therapeutic outlet for the budding adolescent musician, “an electronic ear to fill with my deepest secrets and childhood anxieties.”
“Whispering in the dark, I could share anything with my new mechanical confidant, knowing that if I wanted to I could erase everything,” Grohl reads. “But rather than hit the eject button after my quiet confessions, I would rewind back, hit play, and drift off to sleep listening to my voice say the things I never had the courage to say to an actual person. Except, now I was saying them to myself.”
Listen to the excerpt from The Storyteller below, as read by Dave Grohl, or read it on his Instagram. The book is available for pre-order here.
Dave Grohl – The Storyteller (Excerpt)
[Video: Foo Fighters]
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