Uncommon Ground ^ Joe Reilly

Joe Reilly
Joe Reilly has been a singer, songwriter, and guitarist for twelve years and has extensive performance and touring experience, bringing messages of hope and peace in his songs to audiences in the Midwest and across the United States. Both of his parents are singers and guitarists and he grew up listening to their classical and liturgical music in his home and church, learning that music can be prayerful, healing, and celebratory. With their help Joe began to teach himself to play guitar and sing. In addition to self-instruction Joe has also studied voice and guitar privately and at the Old Town School of Folk Music www.oldtownschool.org in Chicago. His background in the study and performance of many different musical styles, including Native American music, folk, blues, jazz, liturgical, and classical, as well as academic studies in environmental justice and racism and his spiritual roots in Catholicism and Native American religions has led to a writing style that incorporates these diverse influences into a unique and powerful voice. It is a creative and honest voice that calls for holistic healing of our society for the benefit of future generations.

Joe has written, arranged, recorded, and published over 30 songs on three albums and has worked to build a career that supports the sharing of his music with a diversity of listeners through recording, community-based performances, educational and instructional workshops, and tours. In 2001 Joe made his first recording as a solo artist, Mothers and Daughters www.cdbaby.com/joereilly , arranging a diverse group of musicians and singers as accompanists with him on nine original songs. In 2001 he co-founded the Long Hairz Collective, a trio including himself, poet Brian Babb, and emcee William Copeland, combining styles of hip-hop, folk, blues, and spoken word in their songs. The Long Hairz recorded a CD in 2002 entitled Dread Locks and Pony Tales www.cdbaby.com/longairz . Over the past year Joe has spent much of my his time coordinating the efforts of The Faith Project, an extremely talented band in Chicago that includes jazz drummer Jon Faro, soul bassist Alejandro Cornejo, and Haitian master percussionist Camelo Romelus.

It is through the active sharing of his music that Joe hopes to inspire and empower people to heal their relationships to themselves, each other, and to the earth. Joe has performed at festivals such as the Concert of Colors www.concertofcolors.com (Detroit 2004), venues such as Schubas www.schubas.com (Chicago 2003, 2004), the Chicago Cultural Center www.cityofchicago.org (2005), and Uncommon Ground www.uncommonground.com (Chicago, 2003-05), tours such as "How Far is Home?" www.howfarishome.com (Minnesota 2002, 2003, 2004), and talent contests such as Amateur Night at the Apollo (Detroit 2003). In addition to public performances, Joe uses his music as an educational tool in classrooms and after school programs with at-risk youth such as Project Paradigm (Detroit 2003), Teen Living Program www.teenliving.org (Chicago 2004), the American Indian Center of Chicago www.aic-chicago.org (2003-2004) and for adults with disabilities at Esperanza Community Services (Chicago 2004). Joe maintains a website www.spiritboy.org and a mailing list http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/spiritboy with over 500 subscribers as a means of communicating upcoming performances, record releases, and to share creative writing and essays with his audience.

Photos by Linda Wan