Feb 18, 2008 7:51 pm US/Eastern
Documentary Spotlights Pittsburgh Rocker Grushecky
"A Good Life: The Joe Grushecky Story" premieres locally at the South Side Works Cinema Thursday at 8pm
Watch Pittsburgh Today Live on KDKA-TV this Thursday at 9am to hear from Joe Grushecky and Ohio Filmmakers Steve Caniff and Jim Justice
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
He's a husband, father, teacher and a Pittsburgh rocker who often shares the stage with his friend, Bruce Springsteen. This week, Joe Grushecky will also appear on the big screen as the star of a new documentary.
Three decades since they first rocked "Decade" in Oakland, Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers have become a Pittsburgh institution; but Ohio filmmaker Steve Caniff first saw Grushecky play during a 2004 benefit concert for flood victims at Heinz Hall.
"I went to that show and I was hooked, immediately hooked," Caniff told KDKA.
Caniff and fellow filmmaker Jim Justice of Flat Broke Productions decided Grushecky would be the perfect focus of a documentary.
The pair co-produced, directed and edited a documentary looking at this local rock legend, called "A Good Life: The Joe Grushecky Story."
It's the story of a performer, father, teacher and songwriter – from his early days playing at The Decade in Oakland to sharing the stage with "the Boss."
"The club we were playing at was The Decade in Oakland. You couldn't get in the place on Saturday night," Grushecky told the filmmakers.
Still, the band dubbed a "new American classic" by Rolling Stone and "the best rock band in the country" (The Village Voce -1980)" has had its struggles.
"We had difficulty hooking up with any major tours because we were too odd for most of the mainstream music," Grushecky told the filmmakers. "We had rhythm and blues influences and we liked the punk rock stuff."
But Grushecky has what it takes. The coal miner's son shares the blue collar sympathies of his famous friend.
"We have a lot of the same things in common and wrote about a lot of the same subjects," Springsteen said in the documentary. "I've always admired his band and so it was just a nice friendship."
Caniff and Justice's first collaboration has been striking a chord among those who have seen it already. In fact, it was voted best documentary in the Ohio Film Festival.
"We finally had made something that we always wanted to do" Justice added, "and we did it!"
"A Good Life: The Joe Grushecky Story" premieres locally at the South Side Works Cinema this Thursday, February 21st at 8pm. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the box office. After the screening, the filmmakers will be available to answer questions.
The documentary is also now available on DVD for $16.95. Click here for more details and to find out how to order a copy!"A Good Life: The Joe Grushecky Story"
Watch the Trailer
Excerpts Courtesy Flat Broke Productions"
Early Years At Decade
Pittsburgh Roots Bonding With "The Boss"
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