MUSIC
Mike O’Reilly: The Entertainer JIM HURCOMB
THE BOLT UPRIGHT REVUE
Mike O’Reilly has an interesting take on the definition of an “entertainer”.
“My philosophy has always been that the music business is part of the entertainment industry. If you can go out and present an act that can play and sing and you entertain the people by some other means, you have all bases covered.” Mike O’Reilly has been covering those bases for a long time. His dad was in the Air Force, and that meant a lot of travel when Mike was
RADIO KINGS
young. His early musical memories come from time spent on an Air Base in France. “I bought a Little Richard album at the base exchange store. Up until then music had been in the ‘milksop’ era. Radio didn’t really appeal to me. And then Little Richard came along, and he was raw and animalistic. He was exciting, and I just loved his stuff. Then I saw this group from the U.S. army base in their baggy suits, saxophones and they put on a show. I stood there mesmerized and I thought ‘Yup that’s what I want to do’.” But it wasn’t all about Rock and Roll. Mike’s dad also had a collection of
country and bluegrass records from the likes of Hank Snow, Doc Watson, Hank Williams, Bill Monroe and Roy Acuff. Rather than choose favorites, Mike embraced both styles of music, and they became his musical bedrock. In the early 60’s he started playing live as part of what he calls the “Folk-
Scare”, when artists like The Rooftop Singers, Brothers Four and New Christy Minstrels were “the thing” before the British Invasion hit. It didn’t take Mike long to learn that just singing and playing guitar or banjo wasn’t enough. He needed to create a stage persona. “It’s something you have to develop, because when you go in and sing a
DICK SMITH/MIKE O’REILLY BLUEGRASS BAND
36 BOUNDER MAGAZINE
couple of songs that mean a lot to you and people don’t pay attention, your ego takes a bushwhacking. So, I figured I ought to get the audience on my side. So, I inserted some humour. Once you get people laughing, they’re watching,
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