“Me picking a bass player to replace me was like, ‘Wait a minute, who is going to replace me?’ It sounds a little egotistical, but I’m not a snob,” says Reilly, who still manages and produces the group.
Every so often, he still struts out there with his bass, guitar or mandolin and sits in, as if he’s never left, but he’s comfortable with his current position.
“The thing is, after COVID, I got so spoiled for being home for sixteen months, I was enjoying my life a lot more without jumping on airplanes and driving Suburbans and traveling around the country,” Reilly, who joined the burgeoning Ohio band in 1972, admits from his house in Sag Harbor.
“It’s just one of those kind of things. Yes, it was a little bit weird at first, but I believe you make a decision and you stick with it, good, bad or indifferent,” he continues. “I’ve been to every state, including Alaska and Hawaii, at least a dozen times. I’ve seen every tiny little town and every small college in the U.S. I just thought this is time for the next chapter, but I couldn’t just step away from Pure Prairie League.”
Instead, Reilly recruited some new blood, including bassist-vocalist Jared Camic and guitarist Jeff Zona back in 2021, in forming a fresh Pure Prairie League that still features founding member John David Call on pedal steel guitar. The other current players are drummer Scott Thompson and guitarist-keyboardist Randy Harper.
Lonngtime bassist Mike Reilly is retired from touring but is still heavily involved with Pure Prairie League
Courtesy Pics From the Seats
“We were just doing gigs and doing our fifty shows a year. Everything was going along just fine,” Reilly shares. “When I decided to stop touring a couple years ago, I thought there was a chance to get some new energy into the band.”
And with such an extensive catalog stretching back 55 years, PPL could sustain a career by just playing the hits — particularly “Amie,” “Let Me Love You Tonight” and “Still Right Here in My Heart” — and people would buy tickets.
But without an official Pure Prairie League album in almost twenty years, Reilly decided to get in the studio with the revamped lineup. The result, Back on Track, was released in December 2024, and sees the crooning quintet pay homage to its time-honored roots, while also creating a catchy contemporary country album that both loyal fans and casual listeners can appreciate. From the familiar soft rock of the title track to the latest love song, “I’m the Lucky One,” Pure Prairie League isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“It’s been a long time coming. I didn’t think we really had anything to say or to prove for a while. With Jeff and Jared, the sound and the lineup has held and is killing so I decided let’s make a record,” Reilly says.
“We’ve gotten a third wind, and we’ve hit a new stride. I just want to keep up,” he continues. “I don’t see any stopping point. A matter of fact, I think this might be our shot. As crazy as that is. We’ve had a couple of fifteen minutes in the spotlight, and I think we’re due for another thirty minutes.”
Catch Pure Prairie League at the Paramount Theatre on Sunday, June 1. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Southern rock mainstays for more than fifty years, are also on the bill.
Pure Prairie League’s unconventional approach to vitality might not work for every band, but the veteran rock collective is no stranger to change, as the project has welcomed 52 musicians throughout its history, serving as the launching point for such stars as Vince Gill, Gary Burr and Curtis Wright in the process. Then there was a ten-year hiatus that ended with the 1998 reunion.
Looking back, Reilly wouldn’t have it any other way and is grateful for all the memories, all of which could fill a book. He recalls how the crowd sung “Amie” so loudly it drowned out the band while a full moon peaked over the stage during a Red Rocks set.
“When I saw pictures of that, that just absolutely blew my mind,” he adds.
Then there was a 1970s show in Reno when a literal elephant opened for them.
“I think her name was Rosie. She did the typical elephant tricks, standing on a ball, but she shit all over the stage,” Reilly recalls. “They had a tarp down and sort of cleaned up it, but there was that residual smell, and you can’t unsee this. That was the strangest opening act we ever had.” The biggest, too, he quips.
Given his first introduction to his future bandmates was during a January 1970 show in Cincinnati, Reilly never envisioned Pure Prairie League would become his life’s work, but he’s thankful it did.
“It’s a band, it’s a family and it’s a legacy now that I feel that we have some responsibility to maintain,” he concludes.
Pure Prairie League, with the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, 7 p.m. Sunday, June 1, Paramount Theatre, 1621 Glenarm Place. Tickets are $53-$122.
