John C. Reilly’s Music Is a ‘Labor of Love’

John C. Reilly is known to audiences everywhere as a versatile actor who's starred in more than 50 films, including 'Boogie Nights,' 'The Hours,' 'Chicago' and 'Casualties of War.' But he is also a musician, and in a new interview he says his music is "a labor of love."

Reilly's work on the soundtrack to 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' garnered him a Grammy nomination, and he has subsequently recorded two classic tracks -- Ray Price's 'I'll Be There if You Want,' and the Delmore Brothers song 'Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar' -- for Jack White's Third Man Records. He also tours with a band called John Reilly & Friends, performing nothing but old classics.

"It's just kind of a labor of love," Reilly tells Billboard. "It's music I was really interested in and have been playing with friends. It's a really rewarding thing to do -- not to make money, certainly, or to get famous or whatever. It's just really moving music to play and share with people."

As much as he enjoys touring, Reilly says he'd like to take things a step further. "We hope to do [an album]," he acknowledges. "We get asked about that a lot, especially at shows. The songs aren't going anywhere. They're as old as the hills."

He adds, "It's almost like borrowing the music from the audience and playing it back for them, and it ends up being like a community experience. I'm not saying I'm as good as the people that came before me, but I'm still alive, and someone's gotta carry the torch."