As a proud second-generation Irish American, Ike Reilly has researched his roots.

“My grandmother was from the village of Kilkea in County Kildare, about an hour’s drive southwest of Dublin. I visited there a few years ago and picked up copies of both my mother’s and grandmother’s birth certificates. My grandmother was married to an Italian man, and I remember one St. Patrick’s Day my father putting a pin on my jacket that said, ‘Kiss Me, I’m Irish and me asking ‘but, dad, aren’t we Italian too?’  – and he replied ‘yes, but we don’t have to tell anyone that.’”

A former gravedigger and doorman, Reilly was born and bred in Libertyville, just outside of Chicago – also the hometown of actor Marlon Brando, guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, guitarist Adam Jones of Tool, bassist Maureen Herman of Babes in Toyland, and many other successful artists and musicians.

The reasons he originally started writing and performing music have not changed much over the past four decades.

“I did it to have a voice – I played music to accompany these useless ramblings that I had written down. I wasn’t having trouble expressing myself. I was having trouble getting anyone to listen.”

“Even now, I could do it all day long. I don’t know if it’s always any good, but I do it every day and I have been doing it every day since forever; get up and play the guitar and write down words and hopefully some of them become songs – and many of them do. It is a cathartic process for me, and it is a daily practice and process too. Do whatever you can do to fulfill yourself and know that everything you create should be for yourself…”

True to that artistic axiom, Reilly has released almost a dozen albums of gritty, gutsy Americana since his 2001 debut Salesmen and Racists.

In time, the songsmith would discover the joys of being in a band.

“I have been with the same guys for a long time – Phil Karnats (guitar), Dave Cottini (drums), Pete Cimbalo (bass) Ed Tinley (guitar), Adam Krier (organ) – and at this point we can probably play 250 songs. Me and five other human beings – that is a lot of shared information; verbal, musical, spiritual…”

That sonic dialogue is detailed in Don’t Turn Your Back on Friday Night, a new and insightful documentary film that covers over 40 years of the good, the bad, and the ugly of Reilly’s career.

“It has only been out a few weeks, but so far people love the film, and I have been pleasantly surprised. It was way more personal than I originally thought it would be. I gave the producers boxes of footage, and then they followed the band on tour. So, over the past while we have been traveling around and performing at the premieres. To be quite honest, the hope is that the movie helps me get more gigs to better provide for the band and my family.”

Interestingly, it was his fellow hometown musician – and close friend – Tom Morello, who served as executive producer of the new documentary film.

“Tom’s mother was my teacher and today she is a good friend of mine. His very first gig was my wife’s 8th grade graduation party. That is in the film. And Tom’s mom and my mom are quite close – Tom’s mom’s is 101 years old and my mom is 98!”

“Ike is kind of like a real-life version of Jimmy Stewart’s character in It’s a Wonderful Life,” shares Morello. “Ike’s path as an incredibly talented yet underappreciated heartland troubadour has taken many unexpected, hilarious, rocky, and ultimately redemptive twists and turns that are all beautifully captured in this great film.”

Co-producer Mike Schmiedeler echoes the sentiment. “Ike isn’t just a truly unique artist – he’s a one-of-a-kind character. In this documentary, we were able to capture how his music, his band, and his career intersect and are influenced by his amazing family. Ike is the songwriter musicians wish they were, with a close-knit family everyone wishes was theirs. He has created his own world where his band, his fans, his family, and his assorted supporting players are all part of the same tribe.”

The coming months will see Reilly and his tribe busy both on stage and in the studio.

“We’ve got new music coming out, and it is long overdue – it’s been about three years since the last record (Because the Angels). And releasing albums can be a bit tricky as a songwriter – it is a little like a junkie getting a fix; it feels good for a while, and you hope you have a good run with it before you need more. That said, I just keep doing the music and, so long as I continue to grow as a writer and performer, and we keep moving forward as a band, I am satisfied.”

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