Having a movie star in your band is inevitably going to draw attention – but The Bacon Brothers are no celebrity novelty act. Emmy-winning film score composer and college professor Michael Bacon, together with actor Kevin, his younger brother, have spent 25 years paying their dues in clubs and honkytonks of all kinds.
The commitment to authenticity and craft shown in their main careers is apparent on latest album Ballad of the Brothers. With songwriting duties split between them, assists from others here and there, plus two well-chosen covers, they stay true to their self-proclaimed “forosoco” sound – folk, rock, soul, and country – and the LP showcases their versatility.
From the ennui and urgency of Airport Bar to the lyrical sophistication exploring the details of a long-term relationship in Let That Be Enough, wordplay is matched with a satisfying mix of chugging R’n’B riffs, countryfied strums and stomping soul beats.
Guitar World caught up with the brothers by phone to talk about the songs on the new album, their favorite guitars – and, of course, ask a Footloose question.
Kevin, when did you first pick up the guitar?
Kevin: “I was more a percussionist as a kid. I was writing songs in my head and singing them to Mike – and they weren’t just lyrics; they had melodies too. But I didn’t have an instrument to play the songs. I played a little bit; I always had a guitar around.
“Having made a bunch of demos for other people to cut, we put together this acoustic band with four players including Michael on guitar, and a bass player and a percussionist. Michael said, ‘You’re gonna play guitar too.’ And I was like, ‘No I’m not.’ He said, ‘Yeah, we have to have two guitars.’
“That’s really where I started playing more, because it was really about the deal of what the band was going to be. I basically started with the songs that were in the set and then just kept playing from there.”
Michael, talk a little about your songwriting habits.
Michael: “I think over the 25 years we’ve gotten better every record, writing songs that can appeal to an audience without them ever hearing it before. Because when people come to our concerts, I would say two-thirds of them have never heard any of our songs.
“We don’t have the luxury – or curse – of having a song that’s 20 years old and it was a big hit and you have to play it every night. So we sort of make it about ourselves. And also, Kevin and I feel strongly that, given the prices to go to a show now, we have a responsibility to make the show as good as it can be.”
Given the divisions so prevalent today, a song like Put Your Hand Up is very reassuring – it reminds us that we have a lot in common. How did you come up with that one?
Kevin: “That’s the sentiment in that song. I was listening to a lot of Motown in Memphis, and I was just thinking about that kind of beat that just sort of starts right there and just stays there.
“A lot of our songs start at one place and get much bigger and then drop out; there’s a lot of dynamics to them. But that was a song I wanted to just come out of the gate and hit that beat, and just keep going right through to the end of the song.
“The other piece of it is my wife is a really big lover of horns. I’ve made whole playlists for her that are just songs with horns because she’s just crazy for horns, and we don’t have a lot in our songs.
“I was like, ‘Let me write something that’s going to be tailor-made for having a bunch of stacked, crazy horns blowing away!’ And that’s how that came together.”
Airport Bar has a very different beat to it. I was struck by the distinctive-sounding percussion, almost like a tabla, running through it.
Kevin: “I played all the percussion and the drums on it. It’s called an udu – it’s like a ceramic drum. Then I played a kind of deadened toy drum kit. And Michael put a whole bunch of crazy stuff on that.
I think people like to see people who are different… we really try to exploit what’s different about our styles of music
Michael Bacon
“That happens a lot with my brother – he’ll hear something and say, 'I think Airport Bar just needs to be really simple; just you acoustic.' And then about a day later he said, 'I think Airport Bar should have a lot of stuff on it.' And he came back with that great string arrangement and all these dissonant guitar parts, which just lent itself to what was already going on.
If the protagonists in your song The Willie Door are making a Robert Johnson-like deal, they're doing it together as brothers. What are some of the good and bad things of being in a band together?
Michael: “Well, nothing is 100 percent good, but it’s pretty close. In any business with a relative there’s a built-in sense of trust that’s going to be there. The other thing is that most siblings our age are not going to take a car ride for four hours and just talk. But many times we’re sitting in a car together, going to a gig, and the radio’s on; it’s a funny kind of downtime, which is pretty hard to get in a normal life.
“From the audience standpoint I think people like to see people who are different. Like The Band, where they went all over the place. Levon Helm was as good a mandolin player as he was a singer and a drummer.
“So when we’re doing our show we really try to exploit what’s different about our styles of music. A lot of times people are coming to the show and they don’t know what to expect; and overall, I think we’re able to put across a good show that people like.”
I know you guys play Taylor guitars, and you’ve also seen with Fender Acoustasonics and, Michael, what looks like a Gibson ES-335.
Michael: “I’m really an acoustic guitar player. I have a pedalboard, but I really don’t like to focus on that kind of stuff. The Acoustasonics have a five-way switch, and I just take it right into my pedalboard that I really only use for a little bit of distortion on a lead.
“Other than that, it’s just going into the amp, and I’m really happy with the sounds. I look over at Tim Quick, our guitar player, and he’s got an array of buttons that he has to push with his toes. I find it very liberating to just reach down and click into the next thing.
“The Taylors have wonderful road support. We were in Europe once and one of them died, and one showed up the next day at sound check. Their customer support is really fantastic.
I’m just playing rhythm; to play the Acoustasonic and go back and forth on the sounds between acoustic and electric is just so easy
Kevin Bacon
“I also play a Luis & Clark carbon fiber cello, which I absolutely love because you can take it on the road and it’s not going to get damaged. It just stays in tune. Literally – the stage manager a lot of times doesn’t have to touch it up for a gig.
“We have ukuleles, and I also have an Oscar Schmidt 21 chord autoharp. It’s an old instrument that I played many years ago, but we’ve used it on a couple of songs in the studio and it’s just a gorgeous instrument.”
Kevin: “I totally agree on the Acoustasonics. I’m just playing rhythm; to play the Acoustasonic and go back and forth on the sounds between acoustic and electric is just so easy, and they work well.
“But I really love the feel of an acoustic guitar, and I especially love the feel of the 12-string Taylor Koa, which is the other guitar I play. Taylors are just so solid; they’re just great.”
Kevin, I’ve watched Instagram videos where you play and sing to your farm animals, and there’s this battered red Taylor that shows up pretty often.
Kevin: “That’s my barn guitar. I did a Christmas special with Guardians of the Galaxy, and in it I’m playing guitar with the band Old 97’s. I wanted to bring that guitar to the shoot because it’s red and it was a Christmas special, and it was like a Christmassy-looking guitar.
“But when I got down to Marvel Studios, they said, ‘Well, you know, you’re on another planet – whatever you’re playing has been floating around in the universe for a while, and it’s space trash. It’s gotta be all messed up.’
“And I said, ‘Well, why don’t you just mess this one up?’ And the prop guy was a guitar player, and the guitar at that point was pristine, and he looked at me and said, ‘No, man, I can’t do that!’ I said, ‘It would be the greatest keepsake.’
We are the bosses… to have at our relative ages something that we completely control ourselves is really good
Michael Bacon
“So, all that stuff on it, all that dirt and crap and everything, is all paint. It’s made to look old. It’s not actually real – it’s movie magic. I think it’s super cool-looking and actually I’m worried that it’s going to start looking good again.”
After 25 years playing together, what keeps you guys going?
Michael: “I’m a college professor and a film composer. All the stuff that I do, I’m working for somebody else. With the band, we are the bosses. I mean, we’re nice bosses. To have at our relative ages something that we completely control ourselves is really good.
“The other thing is, I think we’re getting better. Somebody asked me, ‘How long are you gonna do this – another year or so?’ I said, ‘Why would we stop as long as we’re healthy and can put up with the ups and downs of being on the road and the songs keep coming?’ I’m delighted to keep it going.”
Last question: I’ve seen you play Footloose in live videos, so you obviously embrace it; but have you ever performed it at a venue that doesn’t allow dancing – and do people get up and dance anyway?
Kevin: “Yes! We have, actually. We’ve definitely been in situations where we’ve played it and people have stood up and come down the aisles, and security has told them they have to go back to their seats!”
- Ballad of the Brothers is out now via Forty Below Records.
