(Credits: Far Out / Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Mon 20 April 2026 1:00, UK
The 1960s had London, the 1970s had California, but when it comes to the 1990s, Seattle was the hub and hotspot for the era’s most influential acts. At the centre, basking in the buzz, there was a teenage Dave Grohl.
There’s an argument that the best place to make interesting, even revolutionary music is one step removed from the main scene. In the UK during the 1990s, you can see this with acts like Oasis and Pulp, where being outside the pressure and cut-throat industry of London seemed to give them more freedom to enjoy what they were doing. In the 1960s, while New York was bustling, The B-52s were shaped by their own out-of-town scene, encouraging them to make music that didn’t take itself too seriously and, in the end, making it all the more compelling.
It begs the question: can you make a hit if you’re trying to make a hit? Can you ever actually be a great band if you’re focusing so hard on becoming a great band? Given the huge amount of legendary acts who filtered in from small suburbs or outer boroughs like Queens or across the tracks, I’d argue that pressure might be stunting.
During his time in Washington, spending his weekends in the exciting scenes of Seattle and Olympia, Grohl first ran into the blossoming grunge and heavier rock scenes. He’d been in plenty of bands, but this was the first time he’d witnessed kids doing something new and something totally dependent on feel.
They weren’t high school rock bands anymore, but instead, he was getting enamoured with local musicians turned niche local celebrities who he truly thought were the best musicians in the world.
Washington gave Grohl the crash course musical education that would eventually lead Kurt Cobain to pay attention to him and invite him into Nirvana. Together, they’re pioneers of a whole new brand of rock music, but before then, the drummer was getting into the classics. In particular, he was getting into Lead Belly.
The Louisiana-born classic blues and folk singer feels so far removed from where Nirvana might be considered to sit. We see them as a loud, thunder act, but really, there was always a sensitivity under it all that spoke more towards those old school forms.
For Grohl, the song ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ spoke to him, perfectly bridging the gap between those big, angsty feelings the young man had and his growing interest in truly great music. “I was lonely,” Grohl admitted, stating, “That was the soundtrack to my first six months in Olympia [Washington]. I listened to it every day – when the sun wouldn’t come up, when it went down too early and when it was cold and raining.”
The song, even in Lead Belly’s bare original form, is dark, almost gothic. Even then, it felt tailor-made for a rock band to pick up and play with. So when Grohl and Cobain finally connected, with this song appearing as one of those strange mythical strings that tie two people together, as it was one of his favourite tracks too, the band’s decision to cover it for their MTV Unplugged set was a perfect full circle moment coming back around.
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