SUGAR LOAF, N.Y. Kings Theatre Company is thrilled to announce the addition of The Bacon Brothers to the spring schedule at the Lycian Centre for the Performing Arts on Saturday, April 21, at 8 p.m. With their band, movie star Kevin Bacon and his composer brother Michael will take the stage for one of their legendary rock n roll performances.
Long before Kevin Bacon launched his prolific stage and screen career, and before Michael Bacon became known as a go-to composer for film and television, they were just two brothers, born nine years apart, coming of age in Center City Philadelphia. Its a time preserved in the cover art for The Bacon Brothers latest CD, New Years Day, with a preteen Kevin singing alongside a mandolin-strumming Michael. The record, released in 2009, is laden with the brothers trademark gritty rock and a touch of Philly soul, and hearkens back to those roots in the City of Brotherly Love, when life was less complicated and music filled the air.
My earliest memory of music was what my brother was playing or the music he brought home, Kevin Bacon recalled. I would sit on the steps of our basement while he was downstairs practicing with our sister Hilda and their band. So my heroes growing up were all rock n rollers. I wasnt really into sports, or even movies. If I could save money, Id buy an album.
Recently seen in Crazy, Stupid Love and X-men: First Class, Kevin Bacons copious career on the big screen includes such box office smashes as Footloose, Apollo 13 and A Few Good Men. But aside from his acting chops, Kevin is a musician through and through.
With 2012 marking 17 years of the Bacon Brothers bands existence, any cynical preconceptions about well-known actors dabbling in music now can safely be discarded. The band has gigged relentlessly to build up a following, and have six LPs under their belts. Along the way, the younger brother has apparently caught up with his elder sibling in some ways.
Kevin writes a lot more songs than I do, Michael says. While my days are filled with composing instrumental music for film and TV, songs are a more daunting challenge. If I write one or two a year that I like, then Im happy. But Kevin has this amazing gift of turning everyday experiences into universal thoughts that everybody can identify with.
While still encountering critics due to Kevins on screen notoriety, the band continues to win believers show by show, album by album. As The New Yorker recently observed: Hollywood hangs like an albatross around the neck of any movie star turned musician, but this duo shakes off the burden of fame with sharply executed rock that has a blue-collar, rootsy edge.
Tickets for The Bacon Brothers in concert at the Lycian Centre are $55 and may be purchased by visiting the Lycian Centre Box Office or calling 845-469-2287, Tuesday through Saturday between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. or on the Web at www.LycianCentre.com.