Like many of you, my heart is broken over the unexpected, recent passing of . With my musical background, I found myself constantly jamming along (and by this I mean “drumming on the steering wheel”) to his cadences on their songs and albums, long before I would ever figure out the lyrics.

The Foo Fighters 2005 album In Your Honor happened to come out the summer leading into my senior year of high school, and I promptly bought that album. I frequently associate it with my first couple years of driving in this world — a true soundtrack of my youth, if you will. I admit I wore that CD out and scratched it to hell because I played it so much. (On another note, I should finally look for a replacement.)

Best of You, the third song on that album, was to me, some kind of anthem to belt out while driving the Michigan rural country roads around my house and high school, windows down — enjoying that unearned sense of freedom all 17- and 18-year olds had.

The entire In Your Honor album will always take me back to that last summer before everyone went off to learn how to be adults — when you could still stay up all night out with your friends (and quietly sneak in before morning), and the biggest responsibilities expected of you aside from working your part-time job on the weekends to pay for your gas, was getting your homework done and submitting your college applications on time.

And now, for me at least, In Your Honor, will also stand as a nod to a slammin’ drummer — a talent lost way too soon.