CHICAGO (CBS) — Ike Reilly, a singer-songwriter from Libertyville, has a passionate fan base, but widespread commercial success has eluded him, which is why he is the subject of a new award-winning documentary.
“Don’t Turn Your Back on Friday Night” tells the story of Reilly’s career and personal life.
‘I was there [record producer] Rick Rubin’s house, and he said, ‘If this guy was 20 years old, he’d be a superstar,'” guitarist and singer-songwriter Tom Morello says in the documentary.
But Reilly is not twenty years old. He’s been making records for decades and now he’s the star of his own documentary.
“It’s a little strange to think that your story is in everyone’s home in North America,” Reilly said.
The documentary has won several film festival awards and is now available on demand.
Reilly spoke with CBS News Chicago at his suburban studio about his life, his career and the new film.
“I didn’t know people would enjoy it, but they do. You know, it’s like a car crash. You know, people say ‘wow,'” Reilly said.
The documentary offers a candid look at the artist and family man – including difficult topics such as alcohol consumption.
“There are some hard things for me to watch, but if my struggles and failures can be entertainment for the masses, then I’m all for it,” Reilly said.
But it’s about more than that. The film asks an important question: why isn’t Reilly more famous.
“He’s not like he’s a star. That’s kind of the point of the movie. Why isn’t he a star?” said Michael O’Brien, one of the filmmakers. “It takes a kind of deep dive into an artist who – for whatever reason – isn’t on the right track.”
Another filmmaker, Mike Schmiedeler, decided to make the film after listening to Reilly for years.
“I wrote the pitch – fully developed – and went to him, and he said, ‘I’m not that interesting. What is this movie going to be about?'” Schmiedeler said. “I’m like, ‘You’re the most interesting person I know. What are you talking about?’
It took a while, but eventually Reilly agreed.
“It’s honestly a lot of trust that Ike put in Michael O’Brien and me,” Schmiedeler said. “It’s not just his music, which is his art, but we also needed… I needed his family. I told him that from the beginning. I was like, ‘Your family is such a big part of who you are , how it affects you’ your music, and it has to be in the movie.”
“The idea is to get Reilly a big audience, and the film is almost a tool for him to get his music out there,” O’Brien said.
A large audience is something Reilly may be happy with, but in the meantime, he’ll continue to make his music his way.
“The fact that I have the opportunity to come into a studio like this, or into one of the other studios with one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands I’ve ever heard, and make albums, and I still writing songs that I haven’t written yet, that gives me satisfaction,” said Reilly.
Reilly’s new song will be released on November 1. He will also play a concert in the Metro in December.
You can watch his documentary on demand on many TV platforms, such as Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Xfinity On Demand.
