Michael and Kevin Bacon bring new album, tour to Batavia: interview

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The Bacon Brothers — Michael and Kevin — will be hitting the stage at Batavia Downs on Friday, playing songs from their new record, “Ballad of the Brothers,” as well as some old favorites.

The pair, an Emmy-winning composer and an A-list actor, have been playing shows together since the late '90s. "Ballad of the Brothers" marks release number 12 for the Bacons, as they explore their unique sound, dubbed "forosoco," which stands for "folk, rock, soul, country."

The new record, released on April 19, incorporates the band's ability to fluctuate between these genres.

"We have a very energetic show and we like to get out there and have as much fun as we possibly can," Kevin Bacon said. "It definitely brings out the diversity of the music and the sounds that we do, because a lot of our stuff is super quiet and a then a lot of it is much more rock."

He alluded to the brothers' first record, which is also named "Forosoco," and said that from the beginning, they've enjoyed playing across genres, as has their band, which will play as a five-piece at Friday's show.

"Our band is -- as you will see -- they’re incredibly skilled, amazing musicians, all of whom get highlighted in the course of the show," Kevin Bacon said. "Michael switches off from five instruments and everybody is playing different stuff."

In packing so many genres into one record, the brothers also included a rock and roll cover, of Lowen & Navarro's "We Belong," made popular by Pat Benatar in 1984. Michael Bacon cited the cover as his favorite song from the record.

"I think in terms of just a fun kind of wacky cover, I really like listening to ‘We Belong,’" he said. "That was a real last-minute thing, and we had our friend Cindy Alexander put the female vocal part on it, and we did it very much in our own way. We did it live in the studio and I’m really drawn to that song."

Kevin Bacon doesn't have a favorite song from "Ballad of the Brothers" per se, but lauded his brother's work on "Freestanding," a jazzy instrumental toward the end of the record that Michael Bacon stretched from a short interlude into a beautiful, fleshed out song.

"In terms of what you talk about in terms of the varied sounds, that song Michael has, called ‘Freestanding,’ that is totally out of left field for the band," Kevin Bacon said. "First off, it’s got no lyrics — it’s got no vocals on it. I don’t even know how you would categorize [it]."

He compared the initial iteration of the song to the interludes from James Taylor's self titled album, saying Taylor's idea was "really cool," and noting how pop stars like Beyoncé have also taken a liking to using interludes to unite two songs.

"Michael wrote that piece, I think, as an interlude, and expanded it into an actual song for this record," he said. "And I think it’s just cool because you’re listening and you’ve got lyrics and guitars and then all of a sudden this strange beautiful kind of exercise pops up."

Michael Bacon also spoke to the challenges of touring with new music.

"I’m always trying to do things that I was not able to do yesterday," he said. "We have the song ‘Ballad of the Brothers’ and it’s kind of a talking blues song and there are a lot of lyrics, plus I’m playing cello. And sometimes we have tracks to play with when we don’t have our fiddle player and sometimes we [don’t need them]."

He said getting comfortable with playing a song live can sometimes take months, but the challenge is what makes it fun for him.

"Playing live is a lot different than sitting in your room," he said. "So I think that’s one of the fun things, playing a new song. The old songs, we can play in our sleep pretty much, but that also means we want to start bringing new stuff in."

Following the Batavia show, the Bacon Brothers will travel to Clayton, N.Y. for the final show of this portion of the tour, picking up again in mid-September in Illinois.

Michael Bacon discussed his excitement to spend time in Upstate and Western New York in between those shows.

"I've spent a lot of time in Upstate New York, Western New York, Rochester. I have some really, really good friends, we have a loosely formed songwriting group, the four of us. We played a lot, we played at Batavia [at SUNY Geneseo]," he said. "[The Bacon Brothers] are starting in Connecticut Thursday night, then we go to Batavia and then we go up to the St. Lawrence area, Thousand Islands area. That has an antique boating museum, which is kind of my passion. And then my wife and I, we want to go over to Canada and look around and then we go back down to our place in the Adirondacks. So Upstate New York is a place that Kevin and I are very familiar with."

Doors for the Bacon Brothers' show at Batavia Downs are at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at this link. The full interview with Michael and Kevin Bacon can be viewed in the video player below.