Pretty much everyone has a favorite movie starring Kevin Bacon. From Footloose to Flatliners to Frost/Nixon, the clever actor can be seen in blockbusters and critically acclaimed films spanning the past three decades.
He has also spent the past 15 years touring and recording with older sibling Michael as the Bacon Brothers. They return to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota on Friday.
Though best known as a movie star — and the subject of the Six Degrees game that's ingrained in pop culture — Kevin Bacon is a talented singer-songwriter and guitarist whose band performs catchy roots rock sweetened by Philly soul flourishes. Kevin and Michael, who were raised in the City of Brotherly Love, spoke to the St. Petersburg Times simultaneously by phone from their respective homes in New York.
The title track of the latest Bacon Brothers album, New Year's Day, contains the great line "Sometimes this California dream is just one long bummer." How much of that line is autobiographical?
Kevin: It's autobiographical. I've bashed poor L.A. in at least four or five songs (laughs). The truth is, I have a real kind of love/hate relationship with Southern California. . . . But I'm an East Coast guy. I feel at home here. There is a part of Los Angeles that is frightening to me. . . . It's really in your face whether you're doing well or not.
Brothers have not always made for the best bandmates. The Kinks, Oasis, Black Crowes and many others have suffered from sibling rivalries. You two have been in a band now for 15 years What's the key to getting along?
Michael: I think one of the reasons we get along is that we're not very close in age. So the communication pattern of brothers who were born two years apart — that are boxing, wrestling, kicking and gouging while growing up — never played into our relationship. If I'm going to be in a band with someone, it's a lot easier if they are your brother, because you already have a basic foundation of trust that's lifelong.
Kevin, does your wife (Kyra Sedgwick, Golden Globe-winning star of TV's The Closer) give you much feedback on your music?
Kevin: She's good. A lot of times she'll come to a show and then take an actual set list and go through it and say, "I liked this, I didn't like this." She has strong opinions about stuff and sometimes I agree with her and sometimes I don't, but there certainly is value to having your wife tell you what they honestly think of a show.
You have worked with so many A-list actors and directors that you can be connected to just about every major Hollywood player ever. If you could work with any musician, who would it be?
Kevin: Actually, we have had some amazing opportunities that have come true. We played with the Band when they were still together. We also collaborated with Daryl Hall on his (lauded Internet show) Live From Daryl's House. That was a real amazing thing. But, there's so many people. God. Ah, Bob Dylan, maybe (laughs nervously).
Michael, what's a side of your brother that you see that would totally surprise people?
Michael: My brother is a fantastic artist. He draws amazing cartoonlike things, but cooler than that. . . . Our father was an architect and I got none of that talent at all. But I think my brother has a great eye for design and could have been an architect as well as an actor or musician.
Wade Tatangelo can be reached at wtatangelo@hotmail.com.
>> If you go
The Bacon Brothers
The show is at 8 p.m. Friday at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $10-$50. Toll-free 1-800-826-9303 or vanwezel.org.
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