JOE GRUSHECKY AND THE HOUSEROCKERS
The Light of Day benefit
Saturday at The Stone Pony
913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park
Donation, $50, benefits the Parkinson's Disease Foundation and
Muscular Dystrophy Association of Monmouth County
(732) 502-0600
http://www.lightofday.org

No average Joe: Pittsburgh guitarist sheds light on the night

Published in the Asbury Park Press 11/05/04
By RICHARD SKELLY
Correspondent

He's a rock 'n' roller by night, but by day, Joe Grushecky works at
the Wesley Highland School in Pittsburgh, teaching severely
emotionally disturbed children ranging in age from 11 to 14.

Although he has enough college credits for a doctorate in special
education, the musician said he still doesn't have a master's degree.


"I have many hours of training above and beyond a master's," he said,
"but the special-ed racket has changed and they keep insisting we
need this mega-training. I think it's just a scheme to get more of
your money. The training you get is actually out in the field."

Being in a classroom all day with a group of emotionally disturbed
children hasn't been a creative drain on Grushecky. He's made a
career of helping others both on and off the stage, and has notebooks
full of unrecorded material that have yet to see the light of day.

That's where Highland Park impresario and producer Bob Benjamin comes
in. The proprietor of Schoolhouse Records and organizer of this
weekend's "Light of Day" Parkinson's Disease benefit shows in Asbury
Park, Benjamin has been managing Grushecky's career as well as
providing a record label for his work since 1996. In addition to last
winter's "True Companion," Schoolhouse also released Grushecky's
"Fingerprints" and "Live, Down the Road Apiece."

Grushecky's discography is extensive and dates back to the 1970s. His
other releases include "American Babylon," produced by Bruce
Springsteen, another Light of Day regular; "The End of the Century"
for Razor & Tie; and, with his band The Iron City Houserockers,
"Coming Home," "Swimming with the Sharks" and "Rock and Real,"for the
Rounder and MCA labels.

"True Companion" is a roots-rock feast of cleverly written songs
about "all the people and places and things that last a long time and
are important to us," Grushecky said.

On the title track, Grushecky tells of his father, who died in
February at age 88 of black lung disease, a coal miner's affliction,
and his wife, both bedrocks of support for the 56-year-old guitarist.


Grushecky also was inspired by his teenaged son, Johnny, who co-wrote
the CD's closing track, "Call Him."

"My son really encouraged me to rock out again, 'cause he's really
into all the new bands," Grushecky said. "He really got me rocking
again, and I look at him and realize that's where I was, 40 years
ago. It makes you realize why you started playing music in the first
place."

As a result, "True Companion" at times has the energy and passion of
some of the old Iron City Houserockers records, in addition to songs
he recorded a quarter century ago. "The music chose me, I didn't
choose it, it chose me," Grushecky said of his decision to begin
performing as a teenager on the then-booming Pittsburgh club scene of
the late 1960s. At that time, there was a handful of "great radio
stations to listen to in Pittsburgh," he recalled.

"Tommy James (who was born in Ohio) came from Detroit. The Pittsburgh
DJs began playing "Hanky Panky," and he came into town and picked up
his working band (the Shondells) in Pittsburgh," Grushecky recalled.

"Even John Hammond (Jr.) had a hit here, with 'Come Back Baby, I Wish
You Would,' " Grushecky recalled of the eclectic scene.

"In the early days, I would see Bo Diddley and Wilson Pickett and Sam
and Dave in the clubs. All the local bands here were playing obscure
R&B covers; nobody played Top 40 music. You had to know who Muddy
Waters was, and who Hank Williams was. It was this great big melting
pot of music, and that lasted about 10 years or so, and then it all
got corporate-ized."

"Now, commercial radio is crappy everywhere," he lamented.

"Here in Pittsburgh, we're steeped in the blues and classic R&B,"
Grushecky explained. "But years ago, we made a conscious decision. We
could have very easily been a band like the Fabulous Thunderbirds. We
were steeped in that. But because I was the primary songwriter for
the band, I felt like if we did that, I wouldn't be speaking in my
own voice."

Like Springsteen, Grushecky has an easygoing, workingman's approach
to the business of getting on stage and performing. And like
Springsteen, he's never shied away from using political and societal
events as fodder for songs.

Through the years, Grushecky has performed at hundreds of benefit
shows like this weekend's Light of Day extravaganza in Asbury Park.
At last year's Light of Day show, actor Michael J. Fox, Springsteen
and Benjamin all joined Grushecky on stage for a rousing finale to a
marathon evening of music.

"I've performed at every Light of Day benefit," he said, "but here in
Pittsburgh, I've done Toys for Tots for 25 years, benefits for
women's shelters, HeadStart, AIDs, March of Dimes, you name it.

"We've played hundreds of benefits locally, everything from Vietnam
vets to food banks."

SOURCE: Asbury Park Press, United States
http://tinyurl.com/44sf7

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