BETHLEHEM, Pa. — When pioneering country-rock band Pure Prairie League reformed from a nine-year hiatus in 1998, it didn't feel the need to make new music.
The group already had released more than a dozen albums — four of which had hit the Top 40 — and had a handful of high-charting hits including "Aimie" and "Let Me Love You Tonight."
It released another album, "All in Good Time," in 2005, but since then had toured playing its catalog for the next 20 years.
Pure Prairie League will perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 in Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. Tickets, at $50.90-$59, remain available (some sections are sold out) at the ArtsQuest website or the box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.ArtsQuest.org
"The band’s been around since 1969, you know, and so we did a lot of stuff," bassist Mike Reilly said in a recent telephone call from Sag Harbor, New York, where he lives.
"We just didn’t think we had anything left to prove ... And you gotta have something to say rather than just putting something out for the sake of putting something out."
That changed when guitar player Jeff Zona and vocalist Jared Camic, neither of whom were with the band for its initial run of success, approached Reilly with new songs they had written.
"We were all fartin’ around one day, and [Zona and Camic] said, ‘Hey, man, what do you think about doing an EP? We’ve got some songs and I think they fit the bill and they sound like Pure Prairie League. What do you think?’
“And so I listened to the tunes, and I thought, ‘Well, hell, these are great songs — let’s do an album."
The result is "Back on Track," a collection of a dozen songs that capture the further evolution of a rejuvenated band but pays homage to its signature sound.
Pure Prairie League will play some of the new songs — as well as from that catalog — when it performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, in Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.
Tickets, at $50.90-$59, remain available (some sections are sold out) at the ArtsQuest website or the box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.
“I just thought it was time to let people know that Pure Prairie League was still alive and kicking," Reilly said. "And we might be a little long in the tooth, but we’re not dead, creatively or otherwise.”
"They’re great songs — they just sound like Pure Prairie League, especially after we kinda put our Pure Prairie League spin on them, with the vocals and instrumentation and stuff like that.
“So I’m really proud of the record and how it came out. I think it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done.”
'This is pretty damned good'
Pure Prairie League helped bring mainstream success to the country-rock and Southern Rock genres with its 1972 album "Bustin' Out," and its Top 30 hit "Aimie."
It had its biggest commercial success in 1980 with its song "Let Me Love You Tonight," which topped the Adult Contemporary chart and featured Vince Gill, then the group's vocalist.
"Wow, you know, let’s put our heart and soul into this and do it."Pure Prairie League bassist Mike Reilly
Gill left Pure Prairie League in 1982 for a solo career that has seen him sell 25 million albums.
But by 1987, Pure Prairie League's popularity had waned and "we were getting down into the club circuit and small theaters, and the next logical step is small clubs, and then oblivion or obscurity," Reilly said.
"So we decide at that point to take a break and raise families and be humans for a minute."
But by 1999, he said, "our wives were sick of having us around."
He said he and vocalist/lead guitarist Craig Fuller, with whom he had remained close, were persuaded by their manager at the time, Rick Alter, to "do a dozen gigs just for the hell of it and see what happens?"
“And so we did a dozen gigs in ‘99 — we put a band together in Nashville and did a dozen gigs and went, ‘Yikes! This is pretty damned good,'" he said with a laugh.
“So with a renewed sense of purpose, we hit it and started touring ... and from that point on, it was just sort of ‘Wow, you know, let’s put our heart and soul into this and do it.’
"And it’s really worked out well.”
'Everybody just did a stellar job'
Part of Pure Prairie League's success as a reunited unit — and especially on the new disc — comes from the return of founding member John David Call, Reilly said.
Call, whose steel guitar gave the band country music credibility earlier on and whose interaction with the guitars created the band's signature sound, “took a hiatus" from the band in 1977.
“I wouldn’t be patting myself on the back, but, I mean, everybody just did a stellar job on this record.”Pure Prairie League bassist Mike Reilly
"His back was falling apart," Reilly said. "We has a special couch built for him in the bus, but he was just in such pain that he had to back away."
Then, in the 2000s, the band was playing in Virginia Beach when replacement steel guitarist Fats Kaplan had another commitment, Reilly said.
He said he called Call and I said, ‘Hey, man, what do you think about coming out and playing a gig with us?'
“So he came out and did the show, and from that point on, it was just, like, he said, ‘Yikes, I miss this. It’s been 30 years.’
“And so that’s how it started, and away we went.”
Call's steel guitar "is all over" the new album's songs.
Reilly also produced the new album.
"I’ve produced other bands, but I’ve been involved in the production of the last six Pure Prairie League albums," he said. "Every place we start recording, I spend every day, every minute, in the studio, either as staff or producer.
"I mean, I was leader of the band, so it was up to me to kind of guide the process along and not let it turn into somebody else’s project.
“I wouldn’t be patting myself on the back, but, I mean, everybody just did a stellar job on this record.”
'Blessings just keep on coming'
Reilly, too, has dealt with health concerns.
In 2006, he had to have a liver transplant after years of living with Hepatitis C.
He said he had a blood transfusion in 1969 and didn't know it, but was infected.
"It didn’t show up for 20 years," he said. "And then all of a sudden, when I got my 50-year physical, the guy said, ‘Hey, you’ve got Hepatitis C.’ I said, I don’t have any symptoms, I don’t feel anything.’
“So they did all the tests, and sure enough …
"It’s been a family and it’s been a true band for years. And once again, the blessings just keep on coming."Pure Prairie League bassist Mike Reilly
“I’m like the poster child for success of a liver transplant. I made a deal with [God] 20 years ago when I had the transplant that I would pay it back in spades, and I’m doing my best.
“I know friends like Lou Reed, it didn’t work out so well for them. I’ve been extremely lucky and completely, totally blessed.”
Pure Prairie League now has been together longer since its reunion than it was during its original run.
“It amazes me," Reilly said. "It’s one of those things where … I think persistence pays off, that’s got a lot to do with it. And getting the right guys in the band, that are great musicians, that are great people — everybody gets along famously.
"It’s been a family and it’s been a true band for years. And once again, the blessings just keep on coming."
Asked whether ever thinks about how long the band will last, Reilly says, “Every day."
"It has to come at some point, and I’m sort of the arbiter of that decision," he said.
"But as long as there’s a demand for our music and people still keep coming to hear us, I think we’re gonna do our best to stay ahead of the curve and do what we can.”
