This is a big week for Dave Grohl, who is not only bringing his 'Sound City' documentary and a Sound City Players concert to Austin's South by Southwest, he's also delivering the music conference's keynote speech. The rocker tells USA Today that he feels confident in the speech he's ready to give and part of that comes from his upbringing.

The Foo Fighters frontman stated, "My father wrote speeches for politicians in Washington and worked on Capitol Hill for 20 years. My mother is a forensics coach. She's a public-speaking coach, so she teaches debate and she's a brilliant woman … So one of the things I know to do is not to read a speech."

Grohl says he's a little intimidated having to follow Bruce Springsteen's lengthy speech last year. He laughs, "That was like the Gettysburg Address. He laid it down." However, he's got his subject matter ready and is ready to address those in attendance.

The musician says it's important for the artists to have respect in the industry and one of the key things for his musical growth was being allowed to pursue music while maintaining his core values. He recalls being left alone by label execs when Nirvana recorded 'Nevermind' at Sound City in Los Angeles and it's a courtesy that's been extended in the years since as he continued with the Foo Fighters.

"The reason we have survived this long is that people have let us be ourselves," says Grohl. "You know why that Adele record is huge? It's because it's a human being singing about something real. It's awesome. It sounds great." Grohl says it's his great hope that musicians come to South by Southwest to find better ways to do what they want to do and he views the event as a great networking experience.

Grohl's South by Southwest keynote speech is set to take place this Thursday (March 14) at the Austin Convention Center. His Sound City Players concert takes place that same night at Stubb's.

More From KLUB Tejano 106.9