Ike Reilly Assassination

Libertyville, IL native Ike Reilly is one of America’s best contemporary songwriters. The former gravedigger and hotel doorman made his major label debut in 2001 with the Universal release of the stunning Salesmen and Racists. He has recently completed his seventh studio recording, Born On Fire, and his live performances both as a solo performer and as the leader of the ferocious Ike Reilly Assassination have garnered him a cult following and high praise from critics. David Carr of the New York Times said, “Ike Reilly is a kind of natural resource, mined from the bedrock of music. All the values that make rock important to people—storytelling, melody, rage, laughter—are part and parcel of every Ike Reilly show I have ever seen. One of the best touring acts in the country, Reilly’s band takes it as a personal challenge to upend and amaze every room they play in.”

Reilly’s new album, Born On Fire (Rock Ridge Music/ Firebrand Records) captures a songwriter at his best, and a band nimble enough to serve a diverse group of songs that required both recklessness and finesse. The songs on Born On Fire traverse R&B, punk, blues, folk, and rock & roll but are wholly original. Reilly uses humor to combat despair as his songs tell tales of love, lust, struggle, drugs, drinking and the underdog. Born On Fire was mostly recorded at IV Lab in Chicago, IL. Reilly’s longtime friend and Assassination guitar player Phil Karnats (Secret Machines, Polyphonic Spree) worked with Reilly and the band on production and the result is a group of rock & roll songs that would be hard to put in a specific era. Reilly said his hope for the record was that it sound like it could have been made “somewhere between the mid ’60s and the early 2050’s.”

Tom Morello founder of Firebrand Records said, “There’s something in the water in my hometown of Libertyville. Marlon Brando, Adam Jones of Tool, my humble self, and now Ike Reilly. Ike is not just a great, authentic songwriter of the highest caliber but he’s always ready to throw down at a union rally… or a bar fight. Ike’s songs are a poetic cracked window into the lives of the heartland heroes trying to get by, find and keep love, and carve a place for themselves with humor and dignity. But we love him most because at the drop of a hat he’ll travel 1,000 miles to play one song for a dying anti-war veteran. We are very proud to have heartland hero, Ike Reilly, on Firebrand Records.”