as Mars Williams (Liquid Soul, The Psychedelic Furs, The Waitresses) Phil Karnats (Secret Machines, Tripping Daisy), and Aidan O'Toole (The Muck Brothers). In 1989, though still pursuing music, Reilly took a job at the Park Hyatt Chicago, where he remained until the hotel was torn down. He was the recipient of the “Employee of the Year” award by Hyatt Hotel just before his tenure at the hotel ended. He decided to retire from music in the early 1990s. Salesmen and Racists (1997-2003) Reilly pursued alternate paths after leaving his work at the Hyatt, becoming a freelance production assistant and, in 1997, opened the Diamond City recording studio with engineer Blaise Barton. He continued to write songs and started recording them with engineer Ed Tinley. After taking a musical hiatus, Reilly continued to write songs and started recording in 1998 with engineer Ed Tinley, who had worked with Liz Phair, Smashing Pumpkins, and R. Kelly. “This marked the first time Reilly recorded without a band, depending more on samples and loops, starting with an acoustic take and then "building the song out." Those demo tapes caught the attention of several high-profile music industry veterans such as Mike Simpson of the Dust Brothers. A month later Reilly signed a recording contract with Universal Republic Records, where he released his critically acclaimed debut album Salesmen And Racists in 2001. It featured guest credits from artists such as Mickey Petralia. Reilly parted ways with Universal in 2003, and since been releasing music on Rock Ridge Music. Albums with backing band (2004-2007) Reilly soon began recording music with the backing band The Ike Reilly Assassination. The group released their first album as a group, Sparkle in the Finish, in 2004. Allmusic described it as "pure rock & roll swagger" and gave the album a glowing review and a score of 4.5/5, praising the songwriting, performance, and variety of rock sounds. Their next album, Junkie Faithful in 2004, was described as adopting "a dry-humored, Nick Lowe/Chuck Prophet-inspired style of pop/rock." The Ike Reilly Assassination became well known by fans of the Chicago improv duo TJ and Dave, who start each show with the original Ike Reilly song "I Don't Want What You Got (Goin On)" off of Sparkle in the Finish, among other tracks. The band's 2007 album We Belong to the Staggering Evening was described as "soulful, blues-tinged." Hard Luck Stories and Born on Fire