Article by Josh Belcher , Freelance Writer
The Bacon Brothers are coming to Franklin. Kevin and Michael have had a true love and affection for music for almost as long as they have been alive. Writing songs and playing music long before the world was introduced to Footloose or National Lampoon’s Animal House. In fact their first album, Forosoco, has a picture taken in 1972 of the brothers performing on stage as cover art. Although the Bacon Brothers have only performed as a touring act since 1995 their music passion and collaborations started long before that. Growing up in Philadelphia with four sisters the Bacon home was always filled with varieties of music, helping mode the sound of gritty rock with a touch of Philly soul that is the Bacon Brothers signature sound. Michael has been a professional musician since the late 1960’s playing with his band Electric Factory, with a young Kevin tagging along whenever he could. The history of the group has been preserved on the cover art for the album New Year’s Day , with a pre teen Kevin singing alongside a mandolin strumming Michael. Fast forward to now: playing over 60 shows a year they are making a stop at The Franklin Theatre, Thursday, July 31st and Friday, August 1st. For ticket prices and an opportunity for a meet and greet with the group, information can be found at the venues website:
The Bacon Brothers also have a new album slated to be released this summer around the same time their show comes to Franklin. The album is titled “36¢ ” .
WS: Could you give us some insight on the new album set to release in a few weeks?
Kevin: The idea was my brothers. He wrote this song about being a song writer, something about what you have left in your pocket if you die and that is 36 cents and a couple of flat picks and we felt like that was a good idea and we decided to call the record that.
Michael: It is a songwriters song, as someone who has been a songwriter professionally for 35 years as a staff songwriter in Nashville I have pretty much spent my whole life doing that. Once I had a kid I did more film scores which was a little bit more stable income. It kind of relates to me as a songwriter because my wife laughs whenever she picks up a pair of my blue jeans to throw them in the wash or something there is always these piles of little pieces of scribbled paper and flat picks and change so that image just kind of seems sort of repressive of the joy and hardship of being a songwriter. And I think a lot of men and women in Nashville will probably identify with that.
WS: What is your writing process? How do you draw inspirations for your songs?
Kevin: I feel like it’s almost if you just knew what the process was and putting yourself thru it and be able to write all the time and I find that it is very elusive. I really don’t know when a song comes to me I really don’t know how it got there or where it is coming from. And it is sort of like lightning in a bottle, I would say that both of us tend to and we don’t write music and lyrics separately. Its not like we have a lyric that is al ready to go and we just put a tune around it. You know they just sort of seem to come simultaneously and it is really just time spent alone with a guitar and you sit there and you think about something that touched you, or you experienced and you start to shape it and then you put it down and then you walk away and then you come back and you keep tinkering around with it. A lot of time the song writing process in Nashville is evolved around a title and kind of get a hook and start to build your song around that. Although we have done that a couple of times I would say that that is were Michael and I are the least successful for our songwriting. We are both better when we try to make it personal and see what happens.
Michael: I wish I could give it a good enough title like process. Because I would say it is more of a struggle than a process. Because a process to me sort of has some logical process of creation that is moving forward at some regular rate. Unfortunately song writing for me is really much more of a struggle and if I write two or three songs that I write a year I am very satisfied with that as opposed to the process of my film composing where I can crank tunes out two or three times a day. I have to be able to do that ,where songwriting, where I do what I call confessional style and that you kind of wait and live your life and your not too busy and you have a guitar and you mess around and try to think of some lines and see if some rhymes catch on and if it happens to work that is great and most of the time for me it really doesn’t but I do have little pieces of songs all over the place. We appreciate what we are doing and we don not take it for granted.
WS: Michael you play a lot of different instruments do you incorporate them into your live performances?
Michael: No, I only play cello acoustic and electric guitar. So those are really the instruments I really keep at sort of a higher level I suppose as opposed to oboe, flute, and clarinet and all of these other things that I wouldn’t want someone to pay good money to see me play them.
WS: The Franklin Theatre plays movies as well as host music performances how would you feel if the played your movies during the week of your performances?
Michael: I would prefer they didn’t. Just because what we are at least trying to do is make the band about the band as much as possible and to have it be a Kevin Bacon film festival and then have the band would be a little bit over the top in terms of what we trying to reach out to people with our music. But if that is what they want to do that’s fine. I have no problem with that at all. It wouldn’t be the first time that has been done.
Kevin: (laughs) No… No I am not going to make those kinds of demands. If they happen to put one on that would be great.
This newest album will be their seventh release. It features mixes by Kevin Killen on song “493 Miles” and Nashville’s very own Joey Turner on “Get A Little” as well as a Paul Weller cut titled “Above The Clouds” highlighting Darryl Hall from Hall and Oates and Live From Darryl’s House. I had the privilege to listen to the new record and it has a deep rooted melodic substance rumbling thru the whole album. It is sure to please current Bacon Brothers fans as well as garner in new ones. To learn more about The Bacon Brothers and their music be sure to check out their website: www.baconbros.com
Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
