Juliette Lewis Dreams of Landing Dave Grohl Live

When Juliette Lewis and her Licks launch a headlining tour later this week, the band will feature Ed Davis on drums -- a decision Lewis tells Spinner that wasn't easy given she got used to playing with Dave Grohl, who stepped back behind the drum kit to play on Lewis' 'Four on the Floor' album.

"We were holding drummer auditions after having the man, Dave Grohl, play drums on our record," Lewis tells Spinner. "This is a great thing and on the other hand , challenging, 'cause you want to find a drummer that a) can play all his parts, and b) has his own life and flavor. Ed had the most feel and also made Dave's parts really come alive."

As for her relationship with Grohl, Lewis says it boils down to a shared music fandom. "Me and Dave are kind of this similar spirit in that we're both musically obsessed," she recalls. "We would swap stuff back and forth. It was a really inspiring musical relationship. Toward the end of the year, we'd been touring relentlessly and it just so happened I was writing on the road, doing our demos, my drummer was leaving cause he didn't want tour anymore and I used [Grohl's] studio. He said, 'Why don't I drum on those demos?' I was like, 'Great.' And then my master plan was to get him for the whole record 'cause I'm greedy."

While she couldn't get Grohl to come with on the road, Lewis still holds tight to that dream. "That's the Holy Grail -- to get that guy to play with you live because you watch him in the flesh doing what he does when you record, and it's goosebump-inducing," she says. "There's so much power in his attack but it's all pure art. I just get really silly describing it, but it was really special."

Lewis recognizes, however, that with Grohl's busy schedule it's a long shot, especially if fellow actor/musician Jack Back -- who played with Grohl in Tenacious D -- didn't have much luck. "Well f---," she concedes. "If Jack Black hasn't ever made it happen, then there's not much of a chance for me."