The Bacon Brothers have spent the better part of three decades exploring their own mix of folk, rock, soul, and country music. They call that diverse sound "forosoco," and it's taken them around the world, from headlining gigs in Japan to American performances at iconic venues like Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry and Gruene Hall.
The exploration continues with the band's twelfth release, Ballad Of The Brothers. It's a record that highlights not only the similarities between Kevin Bacon (known worldwide as an A-list Hollywood actor) and Michael Bacon (celebrated as an Emmy-winning composer), but the differences, too. The two siblings may be bound together by blood and a mutual love of American roots music, but they've grown into sharp songwriters and cinematic storytellers with their own distinct approaches. Ballad Of The Brothers makes room for both of those approaches, offering a mix of edgy alt-rock ("Take Off This Tattoo"), Motown-inspired soul ("Put Your Hand Up"), fingerpicked folk ("Let That Be Enough"), and everything in between. The album also marks the continuation of a musical partnership that began long ago in Philadelphia, where the Bacons were raised on a soundtrack of 1970s singer/songwriters, Philly soul bands, and classic rock acts. Multiple decades and countless shows later, they're creating their own soundtrack, saluting their old-school influences while making music that's undeniably modern.
For The Bacon Brothers, music is all about exploration.
The siblings have spent the better part of three decades creating their own mix of folk, rock, soul, and country music. They call that diverse sound "forosoco," and it's taken them around the world, from headlining gigs in Japan to American performances at iconic venues like Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry and Gruene Hall.
The exploration continues with the band's twelfth release, Ballad Of The Brothers. It's a record that highlights not only the similarities between Kevin Bacon (known worldwide as an A-list Hollywood actor) and Michael Bacon (celebrated as an Emmy-winning composer), but the differences, too. The two siblings may be bound together by blood and a mutual love of American roots music, but they've grown into sharp songwriters and cinematic storytellers with their own distinct approaches. Ballad Of The Brothers makes room for both of those approaches, offering a mix of edgy alt-rock ("Take Off This Tattoo"), Motown-inspired soul ("Put Your Hand Up"), fingerpicked folk ("Let That Be Enough"), and everything in between.
"We're two musicians who write songs very differently, and we've grown to really appreciate those differences," says Michael. "Whenever I go see a band play live, I'd much rather see them do a thousand things than just one thing. We take a similar approach to our albums."
While writing new material for Ballad Of The Brothers, the Bacons made several trips to Tennessee, where they teamed up with Nashville-area songwriters like Casey Beathard, Brett Tyler, and Kimberly Kelly. They continued to travel once it came time to record the album, too. "Live With The Lie" was tracked in New Jersey, where the band abandoned the use of a click track in favor of capturing a raw, real performance with their touring band. "Put Your Hand Up," a brassy soul song that splits the difference between Memphis grit and Motown groove, was recorded in Philadelphia. "Take Off This Tattoo" was produced in Los Angeles by Kevin's son, Travis Bacon. "It sounded like a country song when we wrote it," Michael remembers, "but once we decided to give it to Trav, who has more of a rock and electronic sensibility, it became something new." The band even added a fiddle solo to "Take Off This Tattoo" — an unexpected choice for a rock song, perhaps, but one that emphasizes the Bacon Brothers' willingness to break new ground. "We worked with fiddle player Brian Fitzgerald on that song," explains Kevin, "and the direction we gave him was: 'Imagine that you're playing an electric guitar, but it just looks like a fiddle.' He absolutely crushed it."
Like much of the Bacon Brothers' work, Ballad Of The Brothers offers a mix of autobiography and richly-detailed fiction. The tongue-in-cheek "Old Bronco" finds Kevin turning a song about his 1969 Bronco truck into a metaphor for aging. "Airport Bar," one of the most gorgeous tracks in the Bacons' catalog, compares a doomed relationship to a sports bar in an airport terminal. On the album's title track (inspired by Gruene Hall, the historic dancehall where Willie Nelson played some of his most memorable shows), the brothers deliver a Wild West narrative about two East Coast city slickers who take a road trip to Texas. Whether by fate or by Faust, they find themselves onstage at a Texas honky-tonk, blessed with musical talent they didn't know they had. "I wanted to write a Faustian story set in one of my favorite states ever," says Michael. "It's sort of like Texas' own version of Charlie Daniels' 'The Devil Went Down to Georgia.'"
For Michael and Kevin Bacon, Ballad Of The Brothers marks the continuation of a musical partnership that began long ago in Philadelphia, where the two siblings were raised on a soundtrack of 1970s singer/songwriters, Philly soul bands, and classic rock acts. They're creating their own soundtrack now, and like many artistic endeavors, the work is never truly done.
"We're still exploring the sound we began making all those years ago; we've just gotten a lot better at it," Michael says. "Music is a life's work. It's a universe of things yet to know. We're still making new discoveries."
We’ve been doing this for several decades if you go back to when we first had instruments in our hands. We were raised in a family that appreciated everything that was artistic. I was in a band with our sister when I was in high school. We were given art lessons and dance lessons and acting lessons. That’s just the kind of family we grew up in. It was just a natural thing for Kevin and I to do things together. I discovered early on that he had a natural gift for sharing sentiments that were personal to him, but in fact universal as far as most people were concerned. That’s really the essence of what our band has been all about and it’s been immensely satisfying to us.
What’s always been surprising to me is that we’ve been able to do it for so long. The fact that we’ve kept making music is always amazing to me. Every time I write a song, I think it’s the last one I’m ever going to write. Every time we do a record, I’m definitely sure it’s the last record we’re ever going to do. But then we gather more songs. We’re a songwriting band. That’s the beginning and the end. It’s the be-all and the end-all as far as what we do.
The Bacon Brothers and SixDegrees.Org have joined forces with the Philadelphia youth organization Rock To The Future. They've teamed up and recorded "Philly Thing," a song written by Kevin Bacon and Naheim Gaymon-Hill. "I wrote this song about our hometown of Philadelphia, and we wanted to give back in some way, so we connected my charity, SixDegrees.Org, with Rock To The Future, and it was a perfect marriage," states Kevin.
Sixth-grader Naheim Gaymon-Hill wrote a rap that he contributed to the track. About the experience, he effused, "I feel so lucky that Rock To The Future helped me build up my performance confidence and gave me an opportunity to rock with The Bacon Brothers."
Proceeds from “Philly Thing” go to support Rock To The Future.
Michael and Kevin Bacon turn a new page with their eleventh release, Erato, whose five songs showcase the duo at their diverse peak. It's an EP of dynamic contrasts: quiet moments and big payoffs, organic instrumentation and electronic textures, self-penned songs and high-profile collaborations. Joined by songwriting legend Desmond Child, producer Joe Nicolo, and other collaborators, The Bacon Brothers veer from the stripped-back soul of "Dark Chocolate Eyes" to the pop-friendly modern rock of "In Memory (Of When I Cared)," proving their staying power once again.
On July 18, 2020, the brothers released their tenth record entitled The Way We Love, which contains a series of songs that explore those intimate relationships with the people and ideals that become a source of both purpose and passion. The album contains ten tracks, seven of which were produced by Michael & Kevin, two by Philadelphia producer/engineer Joe Nicolo, one produced by Saverio Principini. Two of the exceptional offerings were recorded live at Sony Hall in New York City. It’s also one of their most emotionally charged collections to date, and one of their most dynamic and diverse as well.
SixDegrees.org is a charity led by actor, musician, and philanthropist Kevin Bacon. Launched on January 18, 2007, the organization builds on the popularity of the "small world phenomenon" by enabling people to become celebrities for their own causes by donating to or raising money for local and grassroots charities in the United States.