President Obama Gets an Audience with Dave Grohl

That's just one of the bits of news in the trailer for the upcoming HBO series "Sonic Highways" starring the Foo Fighters. 

Yesterday, HBO released the first trailer for Sonic Highways, the series that will feature Foo Fighters traveling to major American music cities to record songs for their upcoming album. New Orleans was among the band's stops, and it is featured prominently early in the trailer. The Foo Fighters recorded and performed a secret show at Preservation Hall, which is also featured in the trailer.

Although there are a lot of pieties in the narration, it's exciting to see someone tell an American music story that sees traditional jazz, Trouble Funk, Buddy Guy, Cheap Trick, Big Black, Willie Nelson, and Macklemore like they're simply points on the spectrum rather than in separate musical universes. It's also striking to see President Barack Obama sit down to talk with Dave Grohl. What does that say about each of their statures? You make the call.

Sonic Highways will debut October 17; the album will drop November 10, and Foo Fighters will return to New Orleans on the Halloween weekend to play Voodoo this year.