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 4 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, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child.

This certainly doesn’t mean that I’m quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it’s like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life while living out the crazy dreams I had as young musician. From hitting the road with Scream at 18 years old, to my time in Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, jamming with Iggy Pop or playing at the Academy Awards or dancing with AC/DC and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, drumming for Tom Petty or meeting Sir Paul McCartney at Royal Albert Hall, bedtime stories with Joan Jett or a chance meeting with Little Richard, to flying halfway around the world for one epic night with my daughters…the list goes on. I look forward to focusing the lens through which I see these memories a little sharper for you with much excitement.

I purchased an audio copy of this book for myself.

As a massive fan of the Foo Fighters and Nirvana before them, the moment I heard rock god Dave Grohl was releasing his memoir, it was a given I’d be adding this to my TBR list. Full disclosure – I am yet to actually read this in its printed form, instead opting to make it the first audiobook I have listened to. And what a fantastic choice it was, too. For one thing, I love reading about the lives of those who I have followed for years. Even more so when those stories are told by themselves, in autobiographical form. But the thing that really made this experience for me was the narrator – Dave Grohl himself. The passion, energy, and emotion he injected into retelling his stories was something I wasn’t ready for, but am beyond glad I got to experience it.

Rather than tell his story from start to finish, Grohl tells stories from different parts of his life in a stream of consciousness format. It was a fantastic way to delve into his life. From how he found music, the bands he has been part of throughout his career, his family, loss, and the learnings he makes along the way. And considering the guy is a god of rock music, he has no qualms admitting to hero-worship moments of his own.

Tales of Life and Music does exactly what it says on the tin. But it’s so much more than that. It charts the growth of a music fanatic into an incredible musician fronting one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Throughout this journey the stories tell of excitement, dreams, loss, grief, hope, and the journey to fatherhood all the while maintaining his legend status and touring the world, bringing joy to stadiums around the world.

This wonderful memoir is charged with energy, much like the man himself. It’s raw and honest. Grohl seems to open up to a point of vulnerability. The raw emotions coursing through the book when he discusses the passing of Kurt Cobain, the loss of childhood friends too soon, and of becoming a father and finding a semblance of family with Foo Fighters are evident.

My rating: