written by Cade Wiberg
When fifteen-year-old Cade first laid eyes on the box that held the video game Rock Band under his family Christmas tree, he could see his whole future: the face-melting guitar solos he’d play to stadiums of screaming fans, the fame and glory that would follow him like an entourage, the girls that would beg for a night with Cade the Rock God . . .
But that’s not exactly how it went.
Instead of a packed stadium, it was a packed college apartment, and girls didn’t exactly beg him, although he did find himself in the highs and lows of love a few times. He didn’t get to play to thousands of screaming fans either, but the few real friends he found along the way, well . . . that part turned out to be just as epic.
With a story for each of the fifty-eight songs available on the original Rock Band, Cade Wiberg dives headfirst into the brutal and beautiful years that shape us into the people we become, and the music that gets us through it all.
$9.99 – $20.95
orn and raised in northern Virginia, Cade Wiberg has written creative nonfiction for over a decade. He is a JMU graduate with a passion for film, music, and television. In his spare time, Cade enjoys playing guitar, songwriting, and hosting Rock Band/karaoke nights at local breweries in his hometown of Charlottesville, VA.
Formats: Paperback, E-book
Pages: 356
ISBN PB: 978-1-953021-69-4
ISBN EB: 978-1-953021-70-0
Release Date: 5/30/2022
“Cade Wiberg’s debut deserves a spot next to Rob Sheffield and Nick Hornby—a life-affirming, coming-of-age story that celebrates a generation’s shared love of music and popular culture. It’s not often that you come across a memoir that’s as big-hearted as it is laugh-out-loud funny. Inventive, witty, and true blue, this book is a genuine treat.”
—Jay Varner, lecturer in writing, rhetoric, and technical communication at James Madison University and author of Nothing Left to Burn
“My Life According to Rock Band is the tale of a hopeless romantic who wishes dating came with difficulty settings. I laughed, I cried, I regretted selling my Rock Band set a decade ago.”
—R.J. Haynes, writer/producer of This is My Year and Kidney Beans
“A nostalgic look-back filled with friends, laughs, and music. A must-read for any rock music or video game loving millennial. This book will take you through the personal growth of a young man finding himself within the things he loves.”
—Tarik Begic, filmmaker, writer/director of Inhalation and The End of the Circle
“Within an endless setlist of the moments that shaped our adolescence, My Life According to Rock Band feels like a perfectly nostalgic and brutally honest memoir that easily earns five gold stars.”
—Kyle Johnson, camera operator and assistant editor of the Emmy-winning show Made in Virginia
“My Life According to Rock Band is an intimate look at the familiar struggles of growing up, making friends, losing girls, and everything in between. With humor and heart, Cade Wiberg shows us that sometimes life is a 100% expert solo, and other times it’s being stuck playing the piano controller no one wants.”
—Kelsey Sullivan, English professor at the Taylor Institute
