Naselle, Washington

Where Was Kurt Cobain Buried? Part 1

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Naselle, Washington
Naselle, Washington

As part of doing research for a screenplay idea and in the interest of general kicks my family and I recently followed the “Kurt Cobain trail,” which led to a question which was the title of this blog post, and which I probably won’t be able to answer right away. But more about that later.

Here are the participants on the tour, which started out with the wedding of my niece, Madeline, in Long Beach, Washington, where one of my sisters lives.

My parents, wife Viola, daughter Sabina, son Dylan, me, Ben my daughter's boyfriend, and my sister Anne.
My parents, wife Viola, daughter Sabina, son Dylan, me, Ben my daughter’s boyfriend, and my sister Anne.

Good looking family, huh? Anyhoo, after the wedding we stayed for a few days on the Willapa Bay. Heading up North on Highway 101 with a short detour we saw the town of Naselle, Washington, home of former Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic.

Naselle, Washington
Naselle, Washington

There’s not much there, and in fact I don’t think it is even an incorporated town. It’s sort of up in the hills in the interior of Southwest Washington, an area where I grew up and have always been interested in.


Naselle was also the childhood home of former Bikini Kill drummer Tobi Vail, a one-time girlfriend about whom Cobain wrote many of the songs on the hit album Nevermind.

Tobi Vail and Kurt Cobain
Tobi Vail and Kurt Cobain

In fact, at one point Cobain wanted to title one side of the album “boy” with songs about his childhood in Aberdeen, Washington, and the other side “girl,” with songs about Vail. But we’ll also have to get to that later.


[to be continued]