Friday Feature: Dave Grohl of Nirvana / Foo Fighters

I have a man-crush on Dave Grohl. I can admit that.

When the sounds of Nirvana caught my ears (ok...they caught EVERYBODY'S) in the early nineties, I had no idea who their drummer was. Truth be told, I really didn't have a read on Dave Grohl until the advent of the Foo Fighters* in the mid 1990s.

From then 'til now, I've gained an appreciation for Grohl's drumming style, his songwriting, guitar playing and producing skills. He has been involved in countless successful and creative projects, and seems to have limitless energy and drive to create. Every time I hear word of a new project, I'm immediately interested and look forward to the release. And, like many of his fans, I've rarely been disappointed.

As with earlier features, I have no intention of providing even an attempt at a total picture of Dave Grohl. If you already know him, you know more than I'll provide here, and if you don't know him (what's wrong with you?!), let this simply serve as a point of entry in your inevitable Dave Grohl fandom.

For a more complete history, go here.

Enjoy the Foo!

*True story - my personal DW Collector's Series drum kit was played by Taylor Hawkins in 2002 when the Foo Fighters performed in Salt Lake City for the Winter Games. The backline company who supplied drum kits for the Olys sold them locally after the games were over. I was in college at the time and put together every penny I had - and then some - to buy one. I still have and play the kit regularly.

Did you just sing that out loud?

When I was younger, I never thought too much about the lyrics to songs I liked, but things have changed since having kids, performing for certain audiences, and being a teacher, among other things.


I've used this example a couple of times already, but when I taught guitar at a high school, I gave my students an assignment to bring in one of their favorite songs and present it to the class. Among other things, they had to print off the lyrics and explain the meaning of the song.


More than once I was astounded at how naive these students were. (That or they thought I was.) We constantly dug into the lyrics, discussed symbolism and sort of translated them into clear, concise speech.


For some, this was shocking. Even though I prefaced the assignment with a mandate that the lyrics be PG or better,  occasionally I had to intervene, "Okay, that's enough for now. If you have questions, ask your parents about these lyrics, and please ask them not to get me fired."

Try this sometime: Print off the lyrics to your favorite song, and read them out loud, poetry-style, clearly and slowly, to someone you trust. Then talk about what you think each line means, and what the overall message of the song might be.

I tell you, though, if you do this exercise with most of what's on pop radio today, you need to make sure there are no children in the room. 


This all started when I was the director of a summer "School of Rock" program for KSM Music's SoundFactory. Interested students were grouped together based on relative skill levels and their expressed interests.


Each group of students - or band - was to perform four tunes from different genres. Three would be chosen by the instructor, and the students would choose the fourth. The course went very well, and we anticipated that the final concert would be a great experience.


But I will never forget one moment during that concert. In fact, it's the only thing I remember about that night. One of the bands was fronted by a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of an associate of mine. There she was on stage, jamming on her guitar, having the time of her life with a real, live band, and screaming, "KILL ALL THE ONES WHO DON'T A-GREE!"


I looked over at her mother just in time to see the video camera fall and her jaw drop to the floor. Then she looked at me, and her eyes said it all. "How could you?" I wondered the same thing. How could we have overlooked the lyrics? Why didn't we screen them to make sure they were appropriate?


These days we're pretty careful what gets played at our house, especially around the kids. We've already had the embarrassment of our three-year-old belting Kelly Clarkson's, "You don't know a thiiiiiiing about me!" And occasionally my wife will say, "Hey, will you look up the lyrics to this song? I want to know if I can like it or not." 


Back in the guitar class, I also gave a warning to my students. Roughly translated, it was this: "If you get in front of this class with your song and you 'just like the song for the beat,' or 'I don't really know what it means, I just like the music,' I WILL DESTROY YOU. AND I WILL DO IT IN FRONT OF YOUR FRIENDS."



My friends, I don't really care which music you like or don't. What I care about is that you have an awareness for the message you're hearing. Like it or not, on some level your brain is acutely aware of - and processing - the lyrics and they DO affect you, even if you're not consciously processing them.


Again, listen to whatever you want, but don't tell me the lyrics don't matter. You need to be aware of what is being said - and what is meant - by the lyrics. 


Lastly, I apologize in advance: I'm going to be posting my interpretation of some popular music lyrics, and you may not like it. Knowledge, as they say, is not all it's cracked up to be. 


Until then, happy listening!

Friday Feature: Sara Bareilles

This blog is all about percussionists and drumming and things you can hit.

Well, what about people who create hits? I know you're already familiar with Sara Bareilles (because if you're not, you've literally been under a rock for the past five years), but I thought I'd just share a couple of tracks you may not have heard.

First is an unbelievably convincing cover of a tune that you also know (and if not, see the preceding comment about 'under-rock dwelling').

Seriously, Sara B covering Beyonce's "Single Ladies?" What could be better? Even though I'd heard the original tune about a billion times, I never really liked it (sorry, B) until I heard Sara's version. But now every time I hear any version of the tune, I remember this video and smile. It's awesome. 

Another cover, this one a classic tune that would have been easy to desecrate, that Sara handled with heartfelt class and grace. I heard it on Pandora one day, and it literally stopped me in my tracks. 

It's worth listening to that again, don't you think? C'mon. Press play one more time. 

And, lest you think I only like Sara covering other people's stuff, here's one that almost made me drive my car off the road when I first heard it. Clever, witty and cutting - a modern era classic. 

For me, what makes Sara a great artist is her ability to create her own art with her own, distinct style, whether it be a song of her own, or a fresh take on somebody else's. 

As always, I'm not trying to tell you Sara Bareilles' story, just give you a brief introduction and jumping off point. 

Enjoy!

Bag of Tricks: Anna Nalick - "Satellite"

At the 2:58 mark, this fill caught my attention.

Bag of Tricks: Ben Wysocki (The Fray) Song Ending

It's always a challenge to figure out how to end a recording (or live performance, for that matter) in a classy, interesting and clean way.

Because it fits all of the above descriptors, I have always loved this simple, clever lick from Ben Wysocki on the title track of The Fray's album, "How To Save A Life." Along with many other very cool, very musical ideas, Wysocki drops this one without hesitation.

This measure starts at about the 4:19 mark, and is the final measure of the piece.

Happy drumming!