Grushecky and the Boss rock ‘Burgh

When it comes to matches made in music heaven, there are few unions more uncanny than Bruce Springsteen and Joe Grushecky. Joe Grushecky and the

Houserockers with Bruce

Springsteen

Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall

Nov. 4-5 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets $52.65-112.50 on

Ticketmaster.com

When it comes to matches made in music heaven, there are few unions more uncanny than Bruce Springsteen and Joe Grushecky.

When Grushecky and his band, The Houserockers, take the stage with Springsteen this Thursday and Friday to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Grushecky’s Springsteen-produced “American Babylon” album, audiences might think they’re seeing double. After all, Grushecky — who has a similarly gruff appearance, and wields Springsteen’s signature Fender Telecaster — is to Pittsburgh what Springsteen is to Jersey: a blue-collar troubadour, a social activist and most of all, a hard-working, regional-minded rock ’n’ roller.

In fact, in several respects, Grushecky embodies a working class mentality better than the Boss himself: The son of a coal miner, Grushecky divides his time between playing gigs and teaching troubled children.

The Steel City rock ambassador spoke to The Pitt News about Pittsburgh, informed music and working with Bruce.

The Pitt News: Both you and Springsteen have very socially conscious lyrics. How much do you think music can have an impact on society?

Joe Grushecky: I think it can have a huge effect on a person, whether positively or negatively. To me music is the most visceral art form, and it has tremendous impact on a person — if your antennas are out there and you’re open to it. And not everybody is — some people think music’s background music — but I think music profoundly affects the way you think about things.

TPN: What sort of producer was Bruce Springsteen and what did he add to “American Babylon”?

JG: Bruce is just a major league player, for starters. He would always bring something to the table that I wouldn’t have normally thought of — a chord change, a progression, a lyric change here and there. He basically kept it just to my songs, but his arrangements, and his gear, his musicality, was just outstanding. We were good friends, and it was a very relaxed atmosphere — very creative, a lot of fun.

TPN: What do you view as the most important qualities of music?

JG: I like that true emotion, that true grit. It’s low-down, the lyrics are good, it speaks to you, it’s not stupid … most of the time — some of the times it’s stupid.

I’ve been doing some of these gigs acoustically and I’ve realized, especially on acoustic gigs, I have this whole narrative of Western Pennsylvania from the ’50s to the 2010s that I’ve written. It’s been my work. It’s just the way I look at the world, the way I communicate with the world.

TPN: A lot of media profiles paint an “almost famous” narrative about you and your old band, The Iron City Houserockers. How important is being well-known, and what did you aim for during those early years?

JG: My whole career has been based around me loving to play music. That’s always been my motivating factor. I’m one of those guys that would be down in my basement playing with my buddies every weekend anyway …

I got to play with some of the most famous people in the world. I’ve been produced by two rock ’n’ roll hall-of-famers [Bruce Springsteen and Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the M.G.’s]. I’m known all over the world. We haven’t sold as many records as we’d like to, we don’t have that signature song that puts you in a different income bracket, but we’ve had a great career, we came really close to making the big time … I have no complaints, really. I’m so thankful I’m playing.

TPN: How does being a special-education teacher help shape your experience?

JG: Well, it keeps you rooted in reality, I’ll tell you that [laughs]. It keeps my feet on the ground. I’m still writing about the working class guy ’cause that’s who I am. I get up every day and go to work. It’s a whole lot different than a rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.