Beloved Pittsburgh Blue-Collar Rocker Among Star-Studded Participants including Alice Cooper, Joe Satriani, Corey Taylor, Gavin Rossdale, George Thorogood, Don Felder, Myles Kennedy, Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale & Joe Hottinger, Peter Frampton, and many more in Virtual Holiday Weekend Benefit Event
Friday, July 3 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET at www.rockforrelief.net
NASHVILLE (July 2, 2020) – Riding a groundswell of attention from the 40th anniversary deluxe reissue of Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive), the sophomore album originally hailed by Rolling Stone as “a new American classic” from gritty Pittsburgh legends the Iron City Houserockers, beloved blue collar rocker JOE GRUSHECKY will join a star-studded lineup for “Rock for Relief,” the star-studded benefit concert supporting Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund on Friday, July 3 at 8pm ET and again at 11pm ET broadcasted at www.rockforrelief.net.
Presented by United Stations Media Networks and Storic Media Podcast Network, “Rock for Relief” will raise awareness and donations for families in local communities across the nation. The show is being hosted by Lou Brutus and Riki Rachtman with talent interviews conducted by Alice Cooper and Joe Satriani. [View Trailer]. Grushecky joins a stellar line-up of performers that includes headliner Corey Taylor alongside Gavin Rossdale, George Thorogood, Don Felder (formerly of The Eagles), Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge), Lzzy Hale & Joe Hottinger (Halestorm), Jesse Hasek (10 Years), Filter, Lisa Loeb, The Dead Daisies, Chris Robertson (Black Stone Cherry), Starset, Brandon Saller (Atreyu), Ricky Byrd, Bobby Whitlock & CoCo Carmel, Kathy Sledge, Biracial blues rocker Danielia Cotton, Bones Owens, BJ Thomas, Matt Bigland (Dinosaur Pile-Up) and more, with special appearances by Peter Frampton and Adam Gontier of Saint Ansonia.
Feeding America estimates that an additional 17.1 million people could be food insecure in 2020 as a result of this crisis – for a total of 54.3 million people, or 1 in every 6 people. This is a 46% increase over the 37.2 million people who were food insecure prior to the COVID-19 crisis.
Grushecky and his longtime band the Houserockers will be performing “Everything’s Going to Work Out Right,” from their 2012 double live album, We’re Not Dead Yet: Live at the Hazlett Theater. It’s one of many original Grushecky compositions he has performed live over the years with his longtime friend and collaborator, Bruce Springsteen.
Grushecky’s well-known relationship with Springsteen was actually forged during the Manhattan recording sessions for Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive). Longtime Springsteen sidekick Steven Van Zandt, one of the original producers, was simultaneously recording The River with The Boss at the Power Station nearby, and invited Grushecky to one of the sessions to make an introduction to a relationship that has endured for 40 years.
Van Zandt was one-third of a holy trinity of rock and roll royalty united to help oversee the original recording of Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive), along with Mick Ronson (David Bowie) and Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople). Together, they combined with co-producers the Slimmer Twins (Steve Popovich Sr. & Marty Mooney) and the Iron City Houserockers to create one of rock’s great lost classics. Their cohesive efforts − as producers, arrangers and players – are finally being rediscovered as an entirely new listening experience on digital, CD and vinyl through fabled indie label, Cleveland International Records. The remastered two-CD set includes a bonus disc with 16 previously unreleased tracks of demos and other rarities. The new vinyl edition contains a download card of those same 16 tracks to go with a vinyl replica of the original album. The digital package is on sale NOW and streaming here. Order the vinyl and physical CD here. Order the exclusive Iron City Houserockers Bundle Pack at www.clevelandinternational.com.
The presence of Hunter, Ronson and Van Zandt, says the Houston Press, sets “this project apart,” and “gives the whole record a sort of Pittsburgh/New Jersey/London amalgamation vibe.” MediaNews Group called this chapter in Grushecky’s four-decade career “one of his shining moments.”
Paste Magazine, in the latest “Record Time” vinyl column, says listening to the vinyl reissue “the future sound of other American outfits like The Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers is evident, as is the sound of groups like Graham Parker and the Rumour, which was mining similar musical territory at the same time as the [Iron City] Houserockers. This 40th anniversary edition is a simple recreation of the original release, with much improved sound. “
Little Steven’s Underground Garage celebrated Digital Release Day with a “Coolest Conversations” album spotlight, as Grushecky spoke with the Mighty Manfred on Sirius XM. Ultimate Classic Rock hosted an exclusive Track Premiere of the bonus disc demo version of “Hypnotized (A Work in Progress),” featuring Hunter and Ronson, and called the new release “cool stuff.”
American Songwriter, in an interview with Grushecky, hails Have A Good Time (But Get Out Alive) as “a forgotten gem of a record, a time capsule of frenetic ‘80s energy and lyrics about home that hit home, performed by the toughest, tightest band from the ‘work hard, play hard’ working-class streets of Pittsburgh.” The magazine adds that the bonus disc not only “documents each song’s evolution,” but “showcases how Grushecky and the band took it up a notch when the ‘record’ button was pressed.”
Goldmine, in a new five-star review, proclaims the album an “epic musical milestone,” and placed it in the context of the current world pandemic, noting the how “few bands offered up material as gritty, rich, and poignant as Pittsburgh’s own The Iron City Houserockers” and the “modern-day relevance to the message of the title track and the album itself. Get Out Alive! has always been a record of hope, home, solidarity, community, strength, and love – themes that are as important today as they were 40 years ago.”
