When the Bacon Brothers first began playing concerts, they knew many of the fans in the audiences were there to see Kevin Bacon — the movie star. Now, though, the fans come to Bacon Brothers’ concerts to hear the music of Michael and Kevin and their four band mates. The difference is an important one to both brothers, because it affirms that after about 15 years of playing music together, they’ve found their own sonic groove to which fans respond.
“In the past, we had been accused of being all over the map in terms of the sound,” said Kevin. “We tend to let the song kind of drive what the song will be. What I mean by that is that instead of saying what the song will be tempo-wise or instrument-wise, we follow the song. We use the instrumentation that exists among the six of us. We have no outside players and that’s why it feels natural.”
Natural is a term that sums up the brothers’ musical instincts. When they were children growing up in Philadelphia, both were rabid music fans. Kevin talks about hearing different notes or melodies in his head and explaining them to his brother, who would shape them into a song. It was Michael who taught Kevin to play the Beatles’ classic song “Hey Jude” on the guitar.
| On stage |
| » When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday |
| » Where: The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria |
| » Info: Both shows sold out at press time; tickets may be available from online retailers |
Although the brothers’ professional artistic paths diverged — with Kevin going on to becoming a world-class actor and the Emmy Award-winning Michael winning honors for his work as a songwriter and composer — the two never stopped making music together. They formed their band in the 1990s, but now the question for both brothers is how to keep it growing.
“There is no master plan,” said Kevin. “There are a million unknown things that can happen [in our lives] but we’ve been able to meet the demands of the business and our families, but there really is no balance. It definitely doesn’t feel like a side-project. It feels like a full-blown second career.”
Not to mention a full-blown passion. Both brothers express regret that they don’t have more time to put into creating new music more frequently. But they are content putting out an album every few years.
“That’s the challenge Kevin and I were just talking about,” said Michael. “We had this exact conversation. One of the things the band has been very successful doing is moving the older stuff out and replacing it with newer songs. We like the feeling of the music evolving and developing. The challenge is always, ‘How do we bring more new music in?’ ”
