The Bacon Brothers Performance, NYC

www.citywinery.com

Affair: The Bacon Brothers Performance

When: Monday, July 18 & Tuesday, July 19, 2016 @ 6PM

Hot Spot: City Winery, NYC

Deets: 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. By the late 1960s, Michael, already a professional musician, would gig with his band at the city’s famed Electric Factory with a young Kevin tagging along when he could. It’s a time preserved in the cover art for The Bacon Brothers’ latest, New Year’s Day, with a preteen Kevin singing alongside a mandolin-strumming Michael. The record, laden with the brothers’ trademark gritty rock and a touch of Philly soul, hearkens back to those roots in the City of Brotherly Love, when life was less complicated and music filled the air. 

With 2009 marking 14 years of the Bacon Brothers band’s 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 New Year’s Day represents their sixth LP release. Along the way, the younger brother has apparently caught up with his elder sibling in some ways. 

The album kicks off with “New Year’s Day,” a song that, while it draws upon Kevin’s experiences, isn’t necessarily about him. “‘New Years Day’ is from the perspective of a kid, 18 or 19, who’s left Philadelphia for Los Angeles to pursue his dream of stardom, but is pining to get back to Philly for the Mummers Parade,” says Kevin, who has attended Philadelphia’s elaborate New Year’s celebration many times. Having played with the same crew of musicians for all of the band’s existence, Michael and Kevin agree that the band has become just as much a part of the whole endeavor as the two frontmen. 

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.” “I like risks,” notes Kevin, a classic understatement from an artist who’s played challenging, unsympathetic roles in everything from The Woodsman to Sleepers to Oliver Stone’s JFK. “And there’s nothing more risky about being a well known actor and playing in a rock band.” But there’s the interesting thing about risks—sometimes they pay off. And for The Bacon Brothers, they certainly have. 

Who You May Spot: Kevin Bacon, Michael Bacon

Hint For The Average Socialite: Tickets for July 18 and July 19 are available now! Meet & Greet tickets are available for July 18 & July 19!

What's Trending: @CityWineryNYC @baconbros @KevinBacon