Ike Reilly’s single, “Born On Fire,” featured in Chris Farley documentary; Reilly to appear in doc talking about his friend Farley

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 7, 2015

 

Ike Reilly’s single, “Born On Fire,” featured in

Chris Farley documentary, “I Am Chris Farley”

 

Reilly to appear in documentary talking about his friend Farley

 

Indie rock raconteur and singer-songwriter Ike Reilly’s new single, “Born On Fire,” is featured in the forthcoming Chris Farley documentary, “I Am Chris Farley” (www.iamchrisfarley.com); the song plays in a poignant final scene and over the film’s end credits.  Reilly is also featured in the documentary talking about playing rugby with Farley and attending college with him at Marquette University. The song (which is the title track from Reilly’s seventh studio album, released on June 16, 2015 by Rock Ridge Music and Tom Morello’s new label Firebrand Records) was named one of the best songs of June 2015 by Esquire Magazine, which wrote, “this is the letter every son yearns for his father to write for him.”  “I Am Chris Farley” will see a release nationwide in theaters, and will also have its TV premiere on Spike TV on August 10, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.  The film will also be available on iTunes and DVD on beginning on August 11, 2015.  Fans can check out a trailer for the movie, which includes childhood images of Farley and Ike Reilly’s “Born On Fire” here: https://www.yahoo.com/tv/i-am-chris-farley-documentary-home-movies-i-am-126030093955.html.

 

“I was up in Madison with Chris’ brother Kevin, who knew I was working on a record, and I told him I had a song I thought would be appropriate for Chris,” says Reilly.  “I told him it was called ‘Born On Fire.’ It’s about not letting other people put you in a box or define you, and it also acknowledges that we all have hot, inspired qualities that often get stamped out by others. In the song, I tell my kid to take whatever fire he has straight out to the street and don’t let anyone stop you from finding or being what you aim to be or to do. Chris Farley was born on fire like nobody I’ve ever known or seen. We know he had forces that would have quelled him or dampened his fire, but he just didn’t let it happen. I’ve never been more proud to have a song in a film, especially when it’s a film about an old friend, a teammate who has evolved into a mythical, magical memory. I look back in time with Chris in cars on rainy days before rugby games, his intrusive visits into my hometown of Libertyville [IL], his explosive entrances in the Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago where I was a doorman and of course in NYC and LA after he was really working. To have Kevin so pleased with how this song accentuates his big brother’s memory is incredibly moving.”

 

Since its release, press has praised the album Born On FireAmerican Songwriter said, “To say this is exciting, unpredictable, idiosyncratic American rock and roll is not to do it justice. Established cult Reilly fans might know what to expect, but even they will be thrilled with the sheer dynamic gusto and rollicking groove he unleashes. It’s pure, unaffected and raw, adjectives that have always described Reilly and result in this explosive album, the culmination of his extensive years in the trenches.”  Blurt Magazine trumpeted, “The Ike Reilly Assassination is oft compared with old school outfits like Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and even Dylan, but those are your dad’s bands, and Ike frankly blows their current manifestations out of the water. If you found that too hard to swallow, then I challenge you to a Rock Off. Play a recent release from those guys, followed by Born On Fire, and see which seems the most kick-ass.”  No Depression heralded the album, saying, “Born On Fire is an eleven track ode to a time when rock and roll was rock and roll. …Ike Reilly has crafted an album that weaves in and out of the great epochs of rock… [and] Reilly manages to ground his music in the here and now – there’s a healthy bit of rustbelt gritty, grimy, realistic outlook on life to go with the grins.”

 

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.”  And in an interview with Rolling Stone, Tom Morello said, “Ike Reilly’s Born on Fire: In my view, he’s one of the best American songwriters of the last 10 years, both in delivery and lyrics. It’s, like, part Springsteen, part Replacements. And we grew up in the same hometown, Libertyville, Illinois, where Adam Jones of Tool and Marlon Brando came from as well [laughs]. There must be something in the water there, for a suburb known principally for its Buick dealership.”

 

About “I Am Chris Farley”:

Chris Farley lived his life full speed and committed to make everyone around him laugh out loud, and “I Am Chris Farley” tells his hilarious, touching and wildly entertaining story for the first time ever—from his early days in Madison, Wisconsin, and at Marquette University, through his work at the legendary Second City to his rapid rise to the top of the comedy world on “Saturday Night Live” and in hit films like “Tommy Boy” and “Black Sheep.” The film showcases the performer’s most memorable characters and skits from television and film, paired with iconic photographs, home movies and family snapshots, to fully round out the story of this comedy legend—a bear of a man who nevertheless had remarkable grace and physicality. Clips from Farley’s most memorable performances fill the documentary, from his breathtaking Chippendales audition alongside Patrick Swayze, to his comically ill-fated salesman in “Tommy Boy,” to his diatribes as Matt Foley, the motivational speaker who “lives in a van down by the river!”

 

In addition to Reilly, also sharing insights into the beloved funnyman in the documentary are such co-stars and colleagues as Christina Applegate, Tom Arnold, Dan Aykroyd, Bo Derek, Jon Lovitz, Lorne Michaels, Jay Mohr, Mike Myers, Bob Odenkirk, Bob Saget, Adam Sandler, Molly Shannon, David Spade, and others.  Network Entertainment’s film was directed by Brent Hodge (“A Brony Tale”) and directed and produced Derik Murray (“I Am Evel Knievel,” “I Am Steve McQueen,” “I Am Bruce Lee”), produced by Derik Murray and executive produced by Paul Gertz (“I Am Evel Knievel,” “I Am Steve McQueen,” “I Am Bruce Lee”), Kent Wingerak (“I Am Evel Knievel,” “I Am Steve McQueen,” “I Am Bruce Lee”) and Robert Pirooz (“I Am Evel Knievel,” “I Am Steve McQueen”).

 

“I Am Chris Farley” premieres nationwide in theaters.

Go to www.iamchrisfarley.com for details.

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