FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2015
Ike Reilly to release Born On Fire on June 16th
To be released on Rock Ridge Music and Tom Morello’s Firebrand Records
Summer tour to begin in Reilly’s hometown of Libertyville, IL
on June 29th, with many dates to follow
Confirmed shows July 16th & 17th at Mercury Lounge in NYC
Indie rock raconteur and singer-songwriter Ike Reilly will release his seventh studio album, Born On Fire, on June 16, 2015. The record will be issued as a joint release between Rock Ridge Music and Tom Morello’s new label Firebrand Records. Morello who hails from the same hometown as Reilly (Libertyville, IL), says, “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.”
His first release in five years, Born On Fire features his band, the Ike Reilly Assassination, and 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.”
In explaining the long delay between albums, Reilly cites the unfortunate loss of 15 complete recordings, and the development of a television series featuring Ike for the AMC Network kept the band out of the studio far longer than expected. Not really common reasons for release delays but not much is really common for the former doorman and gravedigger.
David Carr from 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.”
Born On Fire features songs like “Live Like We’re Dyin’” and “Two Weeks of Work,” which reflect the influence of John Lee Hooker, Paul Butterfield, and the electric blues scene out of Chicago that influenced Ike and inspired him to start playing blues harp as a young boy. The title track, “Born On Fire,” is an anthem for anybody who has been put down, categorized, criticized, or told by some oppressor that they couldn’t be who they wanted to be or that they couldn’t do the things they wanted to do. It’s not so much a follow-your-dream song as it is a song that says “f*ck you” to anybody who tries to bridle or limit passion in somebody else.
The songs on Born On Fire traverse R&B, punk, blues, folk, and rock & roll, with soulful singing provided by The Assassinettes, dirty Farfisa played by Barrel House Chuck, and a horn section led by sax legend Mars Williams. Rage Against The Machine and E Street Band guitarist Morello appears on Born On Fire and rips a searing lead on Reilly’s rock & roll ballad, “Paradise Lane.”
The guest players like Morello certainly add color and breadth to Born On Fire, but the real soul of these songs is provided by The Assassination itself. The IRA is: drummer Dave Cottini, bassist Pete Cimbalo, guitarists Phil Karnats, and Tommy O’Donnell and Adam Krier on organ and guitar. The record has a “live” feel that only a band that has been ridden hard could pull off. Born On Fire captures a songwriter at his best, and a band that was nimble enough to serve a diverse group of songs that require both recklessness and finesse.
Press praise has been extensive over the years. Chicago Magazine praised Reilly’s “outlandish storytelling, underdog combativeness, and slapstick humor,” Cincinnati City Beat lauded the “scuffed and noir-ish tales of modern life. …fusing dirty R&B grooves into his swaggering Pop/Roots sound… Ike Reilly’s most amazing accomplishment over the past decade is that every new album is his best ever and yet the new one in no way ever diminishes the greatness of his existing catalog.” Stereo Subversion called Reilly a “genre-bending journeyman” and a “rough-around-the-edges Americana troubadour.” And The Big Takeover appreciated Reilly’s “wordy but focused storytelling in his lyrics, his rock & roll sneer and his rough-edged folk rock sound.”
Minneapolis City Pages said, “Equal parts punk rocker, poet, and blue-collar barfly, Reilly’s stories are as bizarre and filthy and honest and pure as the people who come out to his shows. His songs reach out and grab people, shake them by the collars, make them jump up and down.” Chicago Tribune admired that Ike “merges his affinity for folk-punk narrative and anthemic guitar chords with hip-hop’s vocal cadences and rhythmic drive.” Philadelphia Inquirer enjoyed his “street-poet swagger, audacious humor, and industrial-strength hooks.” PopMatters.com called him “the best songwriter in America… Hilarious, unsettling, raw… but mostly just rocking.” USA Today hailed Reilly as “never less than original… ferociously intelligent… always worth listening to.” And Los Angeles Times described Reilly’s music as “…barroom rock narrated by a wiseguy who’s as comfortable regaling PhDs and poets as he is pimps and porn stars.”
ABOUT ROCK RIDGE MUSIC:
Rock Ridge Music is an artist management company and independent record label with worldwide distribution through ADA (WMG). Founded in 2004 and with offices in Nashville, TN and Washington Crossing, PA, Rock Ridge Music is focused on artist development at every level. Committed to providing a creative, nurturing environment for artists, RRM works collaboratively to meet an artist’s needs, allow the growth of their art and build long-term, sustainable careers.
ABOUT FIREBRAND RECORDS:
We are living in an era of significant protest. In recent years, people around the world have surprised each other with their courage, strength, and willingness to stand against injustice – and where there has been protest, there has been music. Firebrand Records gives a platform for such voices. Born from these times, the joint-venture between Ryan Harvey (Riot-Folk Collective) and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine/The Nightwatchman) serves to release music that inspires, informs, and blossoms from these moments. We know that music alone does not change the world, but we recognize that it is an integral part of the movements that do.