Music In Dropped C

Whether you know American actor John C Reilly from his comedy roles in Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story or for his performance as Dr Steve Brule in Tim & Eric's Awesome Show, most will agree that he is a very funny and talented guy. Reilly is currently in Australia on a promotional tour for the Disney animated film Wreck It Ralph in which he lends his voice. John is also a musician, plays an old school brand of country music and has taken the opportunity to play a couple of shows while here.

John 'hoodwinked' Disney into letting him bring along two of his band mates, Becky Stark and Tom Brosseau, who also play in LA based indie folk band Lavender Diamond.  "I think the first time I met Becky, she was singing in a band called Gwendolyn & The Goodtime Gang at a kid's birthday party," recalls Reilly of his first encounter with Becky. "I was really taken by her, she was like a starburst of a person full of life and curiosity. She's like a tree fairy or something and she is an incredible musician. So I went to see Becky one night with a band she was in called The Living Sisters, they have a new record coming out soon. They do four-part female harmony and it is transcendant. Tom Brosseau was on the bill that night. When I heard his voice, my jaw hit the floor. It was like there was some little piece of The Everly Brothers that he reincarnated... even though they are still alive, God bless them."

Growing up in the Mid West, Reilly occasionally played with his sister's collection of guitars but didn't acquire his own guitar until the age of 19 while at college. "All I could play was Smoke On The Water at that point, which I thought was very cool. I had a limited repertoire. The first real song I taught myself was Kansas City, that blues song."

John was surrounded by the blues in Chicago but also came into contact with Irish folk through his father's record collection. As he became more successful as an actor, the more he came into contact with successful and talented musicians, which lead to his famous role in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. "Walk Hard was a big breakthrough moment because I think we recorded something like 35 original songs in six months, so I was in the studio for a long time with a lot of great musicians and songwriters. That was my perfect rock'n'roll fantasy moment. As a result of some of those relationships and some others, it grew into this roots review that we do now."

On stage, John (who drops the C from his name for his music project) relishes the chance to harmonise with Becky and Tom and plays a beautiful 1944 Gibson acoustic which he picked up in New York at Matt Umanov Guitars. "I put a pickup inside it. I usually don't use it but depending on the size of the room, if you can't hear the guitar, I'll use it. What we really love to do is stand around a central area mic like they used to do with the Grand Ole Opry and perform like that. I think it gives an intimacy and it's great how the voices mix together with the instruments."

Reilly & Friends have recently released a couple of country singles on vinyl through Jack White's Third Man label. It was an experience he enjoyed immensely. "The cool thing about working with Jack, is that he has such an amazing reputation," said John. "He was like... 'Oh we need a bass player... I'll get the best one!' He gets on the phone and literally 15 minutes later, someone pulls up in a vintage Cadillac and it's the best bass player in Nashville or best pedal steel player or whatever. He is really committed to what is really important in music. He doesn't get bogged down in all the weird bells and whistles of technology The studio is all analogue, everything goes to tape, which puts a pressure on you to perform. You are not doing multiple edits in a computer program."

Many Hollywood actors before Reilly have taken to the stage with a band with various degrees of success. Bruce Willis and Russell Crowe come to mind as poor examples. Tim Robbins and Steve Martin's side projects are held in higher esteem.

"I know Tim Robbins pretty well, but I haven't heard his band, but heard he's pretty good. Steve Martin almost has a second career now with his music which is really amazing. I was a big fan of Steve Martin as a kid. I think the first concert I ever went to was a Steve Martin concert. He had a huge influence on me as he did to many people. One of the things which stood out for me was that he'd be in the middle of this crazy comedy routine and all of a sudden he would rip out Foggy Mountain Breakdown on the banjo and it was so punk rock. It takes some courage to step out of that box and express yourself in others way, but the audiences have been really receptive to my shows. Even if people don't know what this music is about or what we are up to, I think if they come, they are going to have a pretty cool experience."

For an actor who never seems to be out of work, I wondered where it leaves Reilly's real passion, his music?

"Well, I'm gonna keep doing it until it feels like a job," said John. "Then we'll do something else. We're going to probably make a record in the next couple of months. We are hoping to start filming the show and turn it into a kind of a thing that you can watch, take it to a few cities and do it in site-specific old venues that are interesting. I might get a movie job and have to put things off for a while. The music has always been something to keep me from doing things that I don't really believe in. You get offered a lot of crap along the way as an actor and if you are stir crazy or just looking for something to do, you find yourself, often times doing things you don't really believe in. At this point, I have done so much work, I only want to do things I believe in."

WHO: John Reilly & Friends
WHEN: Monday 3 December, The Factory, Sydney; Thursday 6 December, Northcote Social Club, Melbourne