Thursday, July 11, 2013

Joe Grushecky's Somewhere East of Eden

Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers

One of our favorite rockers, Joe Grushecky, is finishing up a new album titled Somewhere East of Eden and has asked for our help in getting it on the street. Taking advantage of the potential of "crowd funding," Grushecky has launched a fund-raising campaign on the PledgeMusic website and is gathering donations to finishing and manufacturing the album.

Who is Joe Grushecky you may ask? Just one of the baddest rock 'n' roll mofos to ever strap on a guitar and bang out three chords, that's who! Joe was the frontman of the Iron City Houserockers, one of the tightest, hardest-rockin' gangs to ever roam the 1970s, the band releasing four critically-acclaimed albums, including the essential, underrated Love's So Tough (1979) and 1980's Have A Good Time But Get Out Alive.

Since 1988 or so, he's been leading an equally dangerous outfit known as Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, releasing around a dozen albums both with the band and as a solo artist, including the 1995 Bruce Springsteen-produced masterpiece American Babylon. Over a career that has now spanned five decades, Grushecky has worked with giants like Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Ian Hunter, and Steve Cropper, among others.

A rocker with a heart of gold, Grushecky has made his living all these years as a special education teacher in Pittsburgh's inner city, and has been one of the driving forces behind the Light of Day Foundation, raising over $1 million to fight Parkinson's Disease. Joe has performed annually at the Light of Day benefit concerts and, having seen Grushecky and the Houserockers take over a stage, I can say that you'll never see a better concert. Anything that Grushecky releases is A+ quality rock 'n' roll and, dare I say so, I think that Joe has made better records than his buddy Bruce over the past ten years or so…  

"I am so excited about this unique opportunity," says Grushecky in a press release for the pledge campaign. "Recording artists now have the ultimate freedom to actually have more control over the success of an album, and I intend to put this to good use in the creation of Somewhere East of Eden." Having seen Grushecky perform live, Joe is currently 93% of the way to his goal, so check out the perks you get when you donate to finish Grushecky's new album on his PledgeMusic page.

Wanna know what the Houserockers live experience is like? Check out the Reverend's Blurt magazine review of Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers' We're Not Dead Yet LP!

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