Ike Reilly

Ike Reilly is an American singersongwriter, musician, and writer as well as frontman and founder of the rock band the Ike Reilly Assassination. He started his music career with various rock bands near his hometown of Libertyville, Illinois, playing guitar for groups such as The Drovers in the late 1980s. After working for a time in music production, in 2001 he released his debut solo album through Universal Records. He afterwards released several albums with The Ike Reilly Assassination, including the wellreceived Sparkle in the Finish in 2004, though Rock Ridge Music. He released his seventh album of solo material, Born On Fire, in June 2015, as the first album release on Tom Morellos new imprint Firebrand Records. According to Mario Mesquita Borges of Allmusic, Reilly has followed a trail separate from most of todays singersongwriters unlike other such artists, Reilly prefers the harshness of intrepid rocking riffs, sustained by ingenious melodies and exalting words.

Michael Christopher Reilly was born at the United States Naval Hospital, Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois. He was raised in nearby Libertyville, where he graduated from Libertyville High School, known for notable alumni Marlon Brando and Tom Morello and excelled in cross country running. It was in middle school that he started writing songs and became adept at playing the harmonica, booking his first paying gig at age 13. Reilly learned to play guitar while working at Ascension Catholic Cemetery, a job he held every summer through high school and college. He started by cutting the grass, and then moved on to digging graves. Following high school, Reilly attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he majored in Theology and enrolled in the Marine Corps. officer training school.

Source: Wikipedia