Ike Reilly plays Hopmonk on Feb. 20

It’s a rare Monday night show at Hopmonk Sonoma on Feb. 20, when Ike Reilly comes to town for an intimate solo gig, kicking off at 8 p.m.

Reilly has seven albums under his belt since hitting the scene with his solo work and his touring band, the Ike Reilly Assassination.

With former careers as a grave digger and a hotel doorman, one could glean plenty of songwriting material from those experiences. Reilly uses humor to combat despair as his songs tell tales of love, lust, struggle, drugs, drinking and the underdog.

Reilly’s latest release, “Born on Fire,” could be his best to date, garnering critical acclaim from the New York Times, Esquire magazine and Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine, and founder of Firebrand Records, which is releasing “Born on Fire,” described Reilly to Rolling Stone magazine as “…one of the best American songwriters of the last 10 years, both in delivery and lyrics. It’s, like, part Springsteen, part Replacements.”