Joe Grushecky is a bear of a man, briefly giving off a whiff of danger that quickly settles into a comforting strength.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's Jennifer Langenstein, who will dance in "Springsteen & Seeger," poses with Joe Grushecky. He and his band, the Houserockers, will perform during intermissions. . Click photo for larger image.

Once you're past that brooding presence and into the man behind it, his eyes turn out to be his most distinctive feature -- not for any physical quality but because they serve as windows to a world where "only the strong survive."

It turns out that they reflect a Pittsburgh songbook -- men pumpin' iron and sweatin' steel; girls overweight, out of fashion and out of time. They go to Dom's cafe, where the jukebox is full of memories -- Frankie and Angela, Jimmy and Sheila.

And, you find out, they are the window into his soul.

Sensing that heady combination of grit and grace, Pittsburghers have embraced Grushecky for years. He fronts the Houserockers, a band that has literally defined the Pittsburgh bar scene.

Bruce Springsteen noticed it, too, early on when they met in Jersey and later when they sang toe-to-toe in a Los Angeles music studio. Their bond turned into a lifelong friendship.

Now Grushecky will be facing a new ally, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, during "Springsteen & Seeger" beginning Thursday, when he and his band will fill in the musical gaps during intermissions. It's a first for any ballet group but great for a company that says it "rocks."

Right now this rock master is towering over the dancers in PBT's main studio at the company's headquarters in the Strip District. He watches intently as the dancers go through their paces in Derek Deane's Springsteen ballet, "Hungry Heart."

Then the man who has "never dined on French cuisine" nods approvingly at Deane's balletic slice of real life, its own brand of juicy athleticism and raw emotion.

We agree to meet another day at Eat'n Park, surrounded by good food and good people, where Grushecky, 55, talks about the men behind the music that he calls "rock and real."

Grushecky and Springsteen met in a New Jersey club, at a time when life meant good times and plenty of promise. Springsteen agreed to hear Grushecky play at Clarence Clemons' club, Big Man's West. The feeling of admiration was mutual and immediate.

"We just hit it off," Grushecky says simply. "We had the same likes and dislikes, listened to the same songs, watched the same movies."

Like Grushecky, Springsteen felt "a deep kinship for the working class." And like Springsteen, Grushecky wasn't into "flights of fancy. I'm not a writer who has a wild, vivid imagination," he explains. "I write about what's going on around me."

They would meet on and off and established an extended working relationship when Grushecky asked his friend to appear on one song for his new album. It turned into more than that, resulting in a national spotlight for "American Babylon" in 1995 and the followup, "Coming Home."

Grushecky fondly recalls working in that music studio in Los Angeles, just him and Springsteen trading phrases.

Springsteen, of course, was casting "a big shadow." But, as Grushecky says, "He's a human guy, a regular guy. And disciplined. To have longevity, you have to be disciplined. He has an extremely strong ability to focus and concentrate. Those are the keys to greatness."

But not too great for Springsteen to drive from New Jersey one night in 1998 with just his father in the car to play with the Houserockers at Nick's Fat City on the South Side. "How many superstars would do that?" Grushecky wonders. "That just says what kind of guy he is."

These days, Grushecky is interested in "things that are meant to last." His spirit is willing, the passion still there. It comes out in his latest album, "True Companion," featuring his 15-year-old son, Johnny.

Sure, Grushecky hangs on to his day job teaching troubled students at Wesley Highland School in Whitehall. But he also teaches classroom management at La Roche College and will accept a Pittsburgh Legend Lifetime Achievement Award from Duquesne University this summer.

Still playing a lot of small clubs, where Grushecky makes a point "never to play the same thing twice," he maintains that "music feels better and more exciting in a smaller venue. I like to see people sweat."

But he's not willing to forgo the thrill of PNC Park or the upcoming performances at the Benedum Center.

"Yeah," Grushecky sighs, as he allows himself a cool grin, recalling a memorable concert with the J. Geils Band. "I haven't played the Stanley in a while."