Pittsburgh native Joe Grushecky is as blue collar as they come, a kind of guy that would fit in right here in Buffalo. The kind you could sit on a bar stool and discuss just about anything. Something I actually had the pleasure to do with Grushecky after a show at Nietzsche's a few year's back. He had a taste of the big leagues back in the late 70's and early 80's but never lost his every man ways. I can understand why Bruce Springsteen has remained close friends with him for over thirty years. But time can mellow a man and on Grushecky's latest titled A Good Life he has come to terms with himself. It's also some of his finest work. He can still rock out and blast his guitar as evident on the long jam "Safe At Home" but he show a vulnerable side on the touching and tender "Father and Son" about his own relationship with his son. A sober realization shows up on "Beauty Fades" and "The Other Shoe" as Grushecky sings "It's a short drop to the bottom and a long climb to the top….waiting for the other shoe to fall." Yes, Springsteen shows up on four tracks "Code of Silence", "Is She The One" a classic rocker, a stirring "Searching For My Soul" and the title cut "A Good Life" which finds Grushecky pausing to reflect about how good he actually has it "I got two kids, two cats, a good dog…a beautiful wife, I'm leading the good life". Definitely a man who has his priorities in order. For more info go to www.grushecky.com