Q+A: Joe Grushecky

Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun

Tuesday, May 8, 2007 | 7:41 a.m.

Who: Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers

When: 10 p.m. and midnight Thursday through Saturday

Where: Toby Keith's: I Love This Bar & Grill inside Harrah's

Admission: Free

Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers have been called the best bar band in America.

You can judge for yourself this week when Grushecky brings his Pittsburgh-based musical troupe to the Toby Keith I Love This Bar and Grill at Harrah's, where fans can hear them for free.

The 58-year-old Grushecky is a close friend of Bruce Springsteen, and the two co-wrote the Grammy-winning song "Code of Silence" (2004).

Grushecky has a dual career, rocker by night, special education teacher by day, working at Wesley Highland School teaching developmentally disabled, physically disabled and emotionally disturbed children.

Grushecky recently talked to the Sun from Pittsburgh.

Q Have you performed in Las Vegas?

This will be my first extended stay. I've played some one-nighters through the years. I've played at Station casinos; the Joint at the Hard Rock several years ago. But this will be my first stand - three nights at Harrah's.

Where did your interest in music come from?

My father was a musician and so was his father, who was from Ukrainia. My grandfather was a musician, but I don't know if he was professional . He died before I was born. But my dad was a professional till I was born and then he quit playing professionally and got a job and raised a family.

What kind of music did he play?

He liked everything. I was very fortunate. I grew up in a very musically rich household. His specialty was bluegrass music. He was a bluegrass guy. He played fiddle, mandolin and guitar. But he also liked swing music and played saxophone in a swing band. He also played bass. He was one of those guys if it could make a noise, he could play it.

So you acquired his instincts?

Yeah. And my mother sang. Everybody loved music in my family. It was like a hobby. Friends came over and played music and sang. There was always music in our house, 24/7.

So it's just something you've always wanted to do?

Pretty much. I was old enough to see the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show." That was the clincher for me. I was very familiar with rock 'n' roll. Pittsburgh was a rich town musically when I was growing up. A rich rock 'n' roll scene, club scene. All kinds of people playing in the teen clubs. Mitch Ryder, Junior Walker. I got to see all those guys growing up.

Who influenced you the most?

I couldn't even say. I was just one of those that loved music, all the way from Miles Davis and Muddy Waters to the Beatles, to Dylan to Bruce Springsteen to the Stones. I was lucky enough to do a record with Steve (The Colonel) Cropper back in the ' 80s. It was a childhood dream come true.

How did your friendship with Bruce Springsteen come about?

We've been pals since the '80s. Steve Van Zandt worked on one of my records , called "Have a Good Time, but Get Out Alive." He introduced me to Bruce. Bruce (who later recorded "Have a Good Time") became a fan of my band.

We sort of maintained a relationship over the years. My wife, in the early '90s, suggested I give him a call and see if he would play on one of my songs. He played on one and then another, then we wrote a song together, and then he persuaded me to do a whole CD together. So we did. We recorded "American Babylon" in 1995. Since then we've maintained a pretty close relationship. He's playing on my new record. We've written a bunch of songs together.

You have an unusual day job.

I have a special education degree. My teaching specialty is working with kids with severe emotional disturbances.

How does having a full-time career affect your musical career?

It keeps me at home. I've been playing for a long time. There are a lot of ups and downs of a musical career. Sometimes you do well, sometimes you don't do so well. The music is helped along by my teaching career. Because of my teaching I didn't have to do things I didn't want to do. I could survive between gigs if nothing I wanted to do came up. It allowed me to write a bit more.

My records are pretty much about the common man, and the teaching career has allowed me to remain with my feet on the ground and all that kind of stuff.

How do you juggle two jobs?

I play a lot of weekends. I go through phases, where I play more sometimes than others. Lately I've been really wanting to play. This new record, "A Good Life," is out so I've been playing a lot more. People at work are pretty understanding about what I do. I'm coming out to Vegas. I just toured Spain. This summer I play Toronto, Spain, Italy. So I get around pretty good for my circumstances. I play a lot on weekends and a lot of stuff within driving distance of Pittsburgh.

You could have been a barber or had any other kind of second job, but you chose a meaningful career that is profoundly important. Why?

I call it "the less time in purgatory job." You get bumped up a few notches for all the work I've done here. It's work that gives back to society. So it is rewarding in that aspect.

How did you happen to choose it?

My father grew up dirt poor. It's a typical West Pennsylvania story. Coal miners. Both sides of the family. Very poor coal miners. Dad had to drop out of school to go to work in the coal mines when he was 13 years old. He pushed me to get a college degree.

I sort of wandered into special education. I had a couple cousins who were in that field and I had an affinity for it. One friend had a couple of severely retarded brothers and sisters and so I had a special place in my heart for them.