Dave Grohl has announced his first book. The new memoir, The Storyteller, is due out October 5 via Dey Street Books. It was born out of the past year spent in lockdown, as Dave reflected on his passion for music while away from his full-time gig as a touring artist. Following his May 2020 essay about how much he misses live music, and his return to social media with a new Instagram account, @davestruestrories, it felt natural to go the next step and write a book.
According to the synopsis, The Storyteller documents Dave's relationship with music, his family life, childhood, experiences with Nirvana, Foo Fighters, David Bowie, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop, Paul McCartney, and others, the time he played at the White House, an evening that he went swing-dancing with AC/DC., and more.
In a statement about the book, Dave says:
There is a common thread that runs throughout everything that I do: storytelling. Whether in song, documentary film or on the page, I have always felt compelled to share moments from my life. This inclination is a huge part of what excites me creatively but also as a human being. In March 2020, realizing that my day job with the Foo Fighters was going to go on hold, I started an Instagram account (@davestruestories) and decided to focus all of my creative energy on writing some of my stories down, something I love doing but I’ve never really had the time for. I soon found that the reward I felt every time I posted a story was the same as the feeling I get when playing a song to an audience, so I kept on writing. The response from readers was a soul-filling as any applause in an arena. So, I took stock of all the experiences I’ve had in my life-incredible, difficult, funny and emotional-and decided it was time to finally put them into words. Now with the amazing people at Dey Street books I’m excited and honored to announce THE STORYTELLER, a collection of memories of a life lived loud. From my early days growing up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, to hitting the road at the age of 18, and all the music that followed, I can now share these adventures with the world, as seen and heard from behind the microphone. Turn it up!
Listen to Dave reading a passage from The Storyteller below.
