The Bacon Brothers

The Bacon Brothers is an American music duo consisting of brothers Michael Bacon and Kevin Bacon. Although they have played music together since they were boys, the brothers have only been a working band since 1994. Having heard the brother's music, a childhood friend approached them about doing a one night only gig in their hometown of Philadelphia at the Theatre of Living Arts under the moniker The Bacon Brothers. Since then, the band has gone on to release seven studio albums, appear on numerous radio, television, and web programs, and on many tours throughout North America and Europe. The brother's first studio release in 1997 was entitled ''Forosoco'', derived from what the brothers describe their genre to be as a mix of folk, rock, soul, and country.

The Bacon Brothers also appear on Sandra Boynton's children's CDs '' Dog Train'', and ''Philadelphia Chickens'', on which they sing the title track. Their song "Chop Wood (Carry Water)" is on the soundtrack of the 2004 film '' The Woodsman'', which Kevin produced and starred in. Their song "When You Decide You've Stayed Too Long" is on the soundtrack of the 2003 film ''Red Betsy''. Kevin starred in and produced ''Loverboy'' with his wife Kyra Sedgwick, which Michael also scored.

In January 2006, the Bacon Brothers appeared on an episode of ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. The episode featured Michael Bacon as the episode's "straight guy" and makeover recipient, and ended with both Bacon Brothers performing.

In 2008, Michael composed many soundtracks for television, including the soundtrack for the PBS mini series ''The Jewish Americans'' and ''The Kennedys'' for which he won an Emmy.

In February 2009, the Bacon Brothers were the special guests for Episode 16 of ''Live from Daryl's House'', Daryl Hall's (of Hall & Oates fame) monthly free internet concert. They performed four tracks off their most recent album, as well as some cover songs and the Hall & Oates track "When the Morning Comes".

In March 2009 The Bacon Brothers did Hard Rock Cafe's March on Stage with the proceeds going to March on Stage, which is about helping people who make a difference, about giving back to those people that give selflessly of themselves. In the show closing, they were joined on stage by Matt Morris.

In April 2009 they recorded "Private Sessions" which aired on the A&E channel. A new single, "Guilty of the Crime", a duet with The Bellamy Brothers, was released in June 2009.

On June 27, 2009 The Bacon Brothers gave a brief concert, for the fundraisers who climbed to the top of Pikes Peak, Colorado, in support of the Love Hope Strength Foundation. The event was videoed by Matt Carpenter, high altitude marathoner and posted on their Myspace page.Pikes Peak Video for LHSF fundraiser
Later that night, The Bacon Brothers played a concert at the Denver Hard Rock Cafe. Also playing were Cy Curnin of The Fixx, and The White Buffalo.

The Bacon Brothers toured throughout the US East Coast during the summer of 2009 promoting their fifth studio album ''New Years Day'' released November 2008. During that tour, the band was a headliner for the WXPN Xpotential Music Festival in Camden, New Jersey. The festival performance featured an appearance from musicians from the Mummers to perform the title track of the record.

That same summer, Kevin and Michael teamed up with Philadelphia singer Bunny Sigler and a group of mummers from a local string band to record a special edition of their song "New Years Day" as a part of a fundraiser to be able to pay for the Mummers Parade in 2010 after the city could no longer fund the parade. An MP3 of the recording was sold online and people paid donations to purchase the song. In addition, they performed a one night only benefit on December 5, 2009 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA which was broadcast live. The concert included numerous performances such as The Fralinger String Band, and Bunny Sigler onstage with the band. Though many of the people in the crowd were from the Philadelphia area and had ties with the Mummers, fans from various cities and states came out to support the band that night and the 2010 Mummers Parade took place. For their service, Kevin and Michael were given positions of grand marshals in the parade.

On May 6 and 7, 2011, The Bacon Brothers gave two concerts for the new non-profit California Dream Week design contest and event week. The concerts were geared to help promote the event's first year launch and awarded both students and high schools focusing on sustainable design for a healthy planet. Seven students from around California were awarded scholarships for their projects in architecture and design, Transportation, and Product Complements during an award ceremony prior to the May 7 concert. That same year, the band released its greatest hits album entitled ''Philadelphia Road'', consisting of tracks from the first four studio albums.

The next studio album entitled ''36¢'' was released on September 16, 2014 after an extensive summer of touring throughout North America. The title song of the album was penned by Michael. "Get a Little", the fourth song of the album written by Kevin was originally written with the intention of being sung by a young country singer but was ultimately left to be performed by the band. The album also features an unplugged version of the Alanis Morissette song "You Learn" and the version of "Above the Clouds" recorded from the band's ''Live from Daryl's House'' segment from 2009, featuring Tom Wolk on guitar.

On February 4, 2016, the brothers once again returned to their roots in their hometown of Philadelphia to perform a benefit show at Union Transfer for Friends of the Railpark, which had plans to revitalize the abandoned Reading Viaduct and convert it into an open green space. The event was hosted by renowned Philadelphia WMMR DJ Pierre Robert.

On June 1, 2018, the band released its self-titled album, marking the band's seventh studio release and was produced by former ''Saturday Night Live'' musical director, G.E. Smith. The first track on the album, T"om Petty T-Shirt", hit #8 on iTunes and Spotify, in addition to receiving airplay on Tom Petty Radio on SiriusXM. The song was originally nationally debuted on April 26, 2018 on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. The tracks "I Feel You" and "Broken Glass" feature background vocals from Kevin's wife, Kyra Sedgwick and their daughter, actress Sosie Bacon. Sosie was also featured in the band's music video for "Broken Glass". "Beneath Perfection", the eighth track of the record was written by Kevin while filming the cult classic '' Tremors'', which was originally named ''Beneath Perfection''. The final track, "Boys in Bars" originally featured on the band's first studio record ''Forosoco'', was re-recorded at Lehman College Studios in 2016, where Michael Bacon currently teaches as an Associate Professor in the Music program.

The band played well over 40 shows across the United States throughout the summer of 2018 to promote the record. The tour was dubbed the "A Road We Know Too Well" tour after the fourth track of the album penned by Michael. On this tour, the band was featured on several web series and television programs, including ''Vault Sessions'' by the Songbirds Foundation and the Americana and Roots network ''Ditty TV''.

Over the last few years while the band is on the road on tour, they use some of their downtime to give back to local communities through Kevin's charity SixDegrees.org with drop in performances.

On July 18, 2020, the band released its tenth record entitled ''The Way We Love'', which features the singles "Play!", "She-Zee-Zee", and the album's title track "The Way We Love". The final track of the record, the band's rendition of "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", features former professional baseball player Bernie Williams on guitar. The track was recorded during the band's 2019 ''Shaky Ground Tour'' at Sony Hall in New York City.

Band members

;Current members:
*Kevin Bacon - lead vocal, guitar, harmonica, percussion (1995–present)
* Michael Bacon - lead vocal, guitar, cello (1995–present)
*Paul Guzzone - bass, electric guitars, programming, background vocals (1995–present)
*Tim Quick - lead guitar, mandolin, background vocals (2018–present)
*Joe Mennonna - acoustic piano, electric piano, hammond organ, keyboards, accordion, trumpet (1995–present)
*Frank Vilardi - drums, percussion (1995–present)

;Former members:
*Ira Siegel - (electric guitars, acoustic guitars, mandolin, background vocals) (1999-2018)
*Marshal Rosenberg - (percussion) (1994-2004)

Discography

;Albums:
*''Forosoco'' (1997, November 4 - Special edition 2003)
*''Getting There'' (1999, August 31 - Special edition 2003)
*''Can't Complain'' (2001, June 26)
*''White Knuckles'' (2005, October 25)
*''New Year's Day'' (2009, March 24 - Promo version 2008, November 11)
*''36¢'' (2014, September 16)
*''The Bacon Brothers'' (2018, April 25)
*''The Way We Love'' (2020, July 17)

;Singles:
*''New Year's Day''
*''New Year's Day'' featuring The Mummers All-Star Band and Bunny Sigler
*Two singles from ''36¢'': ''36 Cents'' and ''Wonderful Day''
*Five singles from ''The Bacon Brothers'': ''Boys In Bars 2016'', ''Driver'', ''Broken Glass'', ''Two Rivers'' and ''Tom Petty T-Shirt''
*Four singles from ''The Way We Love'': ''Play!'', ''She-Zee-Zee (Easy on My Eyes)'', ''The Way We Love'' and ''Corona Tune''

;Compilation:
*''Philadelphia Road-Best of'' (2011, July 31), with new song ''Guilty of Crime'' featuring The Bellamy Brothers

;Dvd:
*''Live: The No Food Jokes Tour'' (2003, November 11)

;Appearances:
*"Philadelphia Chickens" and "Snoozers" on ''Philadelphia Chickens'' by Sandra Boynton and Michael Ford (2002)
*"Footloose" on '' Will & Grace-Let The Music Out'' (2004)
*"You Know My Brother (He's So Heavy)" on '' Marlo Thomas and Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long'' by Marlo Thomas (2004)
*"Pots and Pans" on '' Dog Train'' by Sandra Boynton (2005)
*"36 Cents", featuring Kristin Ash, on '' Bellamy Brothers & Friends: Across the Sea'' by The Bellamy Brothers (2013)
* Television advertisement ''Wake Up to Eggs with the Bacon Brothers'' (2016)
* YouTube video ''Staying Home'', parody of ''Going Home'' by The Rolling Stones (2020)
*"Legacy of Pain" on ''Down Yonder'' by Vaneese Thomas (only Kevin, 2019)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon Brothers
1995 establishments in the United States
American country rock groups
Country music duos
Male musical duos
Musical groups established in 1995
Rock music duos
Sibling musical duos
Zoë Records artists