JOHN REILLY - ZEBULON
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 10TH 2011
RECORD LABEL: ART MUSIC
FORMAT: CD AND DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
CATALOGUE NUMBER: (AM-008)
SHEFFIELD’S INTERNATIONALLY RESPECTED SONGWRITER JOHN REILLY STEPS BACK INTO THE SPOTLIGHT WITH A NEW SOLO ALBUM WORTHY OF HIS REPUTATION
“Fantastic album, brilliant voice. Out of five, I’d give it a ten.” - Paul O’Grady, Radio 2
Hailing from Liverpool, and based in Sheffield, Yorkshire, John Reilly emerges from his former role as the frontman for Atlantic Records recording artists Boy On A Dolphin to release his solo album, ‘Zebulon’ on October 10th 2011.
In between American tours with Boy On A Dolphin, Reilly travelled north to Vancouver to spend time co-writing with some of the greatest songwriters in the business, including Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, Tina Turner) and Robbie Buchanan (Christina Aguilera, Diana Ross). Having already forged a reputation as a great songwriter in his own right, (American Billboard Magazine said “Reilly unearths one precious pop gem after another”) Reilly took considerable inspiration from working with such acclaimed writers and focused on further developing his own writing style. Meanwhile his songs were being places in movies such as ‘Tokyo Cowboy’ and TV shows True North, Dawson Creek and X Files.
When John returned to England with just a handful of solo gigs under his belt he was offered a slot opening for Ray Davies, who was so impressed with John’s performance he offered him the support slot for the whole tour, which culminated in John fulfilling a life-long ambition – playing a sold-out show at The Royal Albert Hall.
Full of confidence and ideas for his solo album, John flew to Toronto to team-up with in-demand Canadian pianist/songwriter Lewis Nitikman, who’d already written with world-class songwriters such as Eddy Schwartz (Mike & The Mechanics, The Doobie Bros., Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar), Steve Diamond (Eric Clapton, Heart), Bruce Miller (Reba McIntyre, Dixie Chicks) & John Capek (Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Joe Cocker). For Reilly, whose mantra is “the song is God - not the artist”, it was a songwriting match made in heaven.
Having been let loose from the constraints of being in a band, Reilly’s lyrics became a lot more personal and he discovered a renewed creative energy that had obviously been bubbling under the surface for a long time. During the next eighteen months Reilly and Nitikman, who eventually moved to Sheffield to continue the fruitful partnership, wrote over three albums worth of material.
“I believe in songs speaking to people individually, one-by-one,” says Reilly. “I also believe a great song is timeless. I only write songs that can be stripped down to piano or guitar & vocal before thinking about production and instrumentation.”
After painstakingly identifying the songs that would make the final cut, recording sessions for ‘Zebulon’ began to take place in Toronto, Vancouver & Sheffield, with members of fellow Sheffield artist Richard Hawley’s band (drummer Dean Beresford, bassist Colin Elliot and guitarist Shez Sheridan) adding their celebrated pedigree to the album’s dynamics.
With tracks such as album opener ‘Some Fall Too Hard’, ‘Not Alone’ and ‘One More Mile’ establishing a very British vibe to the album, ‘Zebulon’ also features nods towards blue eyed soul in the form of ‘Building Avalon’, ‘Before You’ and ‘Living With It’, each highlighting Reilly’s versatility as a singer and songwriter. Songs such as ‘Tightrope’ ‘Deep and Blue’ and ‘The Break’ open the door into a much more intimate and personal space.
Singles ‘Not Alone’ and ‘Building Avalon’ have already received airplay across several shows on BBC Radio 2, with the latter also being picked-up by CBC, Canada’s biggest national radio station, who have placed the song on full rotation. RTE Radio 1 in Ireland have also picked up the track ‘Deep and Blue’.
Having performed to over 100,000 people during performances at festivals, The Royal Albert Hall and several sold-out hometown headline shows at Sheffield’s prestigious City Hall, John Reilly is looking forward to continued radio support and breaking out of the recording studio once again to perform ‘Zebulon’ across the UK in late 2011 with a full tour in February 2012.
‘What Reilly offers is actually something of a masterclass in its genre.’ – Is This Music magazine
“John is the kind of man who I’d love to see live!” – Graham Norton, BBC Radio 2
John Reilly is available for interview.