Bacon bits

Even those who possess only a casual grasp on pop culture are familiar with the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. The notion is that the star has appeared in so many films that any actor/actress can be linked to him through a common movie in under six steps. Usually no more than three or four steps are necessary.

But if Kevin Bacon and his older brother Michael Baconhave it their way, a new game may be on the horizon which connects the pair to musical artists. Carlos Santana can be done in four steps. Prince in two. Jon Bon Jovi in one. Call it Six Degrees of The Bacon Brothers.

"Most people in their heart of hearts believe that playing music is hard," Kevin says, from a cell phone while walking around Manhattan. "I don't think there's too many people out there who look up at Bruce Springsteen and go, 'Hey, anybody could do that. To write songs, and get up and sing and play guitar, that looks pretty easy.' But most people believe that acting is a breeze -- that any asshole with a pretty face can be an actor.

"When you put those two concepts together, there's a very easy acceptance factor to a singer going in and doing a movie," he explains. "No one said, 'Dwight Yoakam is out of his mind,' or Harry Connick Jr., or Phil Collins, or Jewel. But when you see an actor pick up a guitar and sing a song, it's kind of like, 'Oh, there's no way this guy is going to be able to do that.'"

While that may be the perception with actors-turned-musicians, it in no way applies to brother Michael, who has carved out an impressive career on his own. An Emmy-winning composer for his work on 1993's The Kennedy's, Michael has always been immersed in the recording industry. Although for him, it's more preferable when it's a family thing.

"I don't ever remember a time when I didn't want to play music with my brother," says Michael, joining the three-way conversation from his New York City home. "Maybe that is just the nature of siblings. I played in a band with one of my sisters. I guess there's a feeling of connection, there's a support system that still exists. Now we're standing in front of 15,000 people, and to look over and see someone you know so intimately, and to share the excitement and the achievement of that, and also the down things like the frustrations, is very comforting."

Kevin says, "It was a real honor that my older brother would say, 'Hey, why don't you pick up that drum and bang along with me?' You know what it's like with an older brother, you really look up to them. Just to be included in that is kind of cool."

With years of noodling around together in garages and basements, the two managed to step up the collaboration for real while well into their adulthood. In 1997, The Bacon Brothers released their debut record Forosoco. The album's title, which is shorthand for folk, rock, soul, and country, gave a sensible description for the act's fusing of styles.

It was a little bit of a wise-ass sort of thing," Michael says of the term "forosoco" (which PitchWeekly's editorial computer spell check keeps trying to change into "pharisaic"). "Because when you start a band, the first thing people ask is what kind of music it is. And you don't want to be categorized, because you're 'so original' and all that stuff. So we made up this kind of goofy term. Sometimes we'll sit down and think about who really fits in the category. It does describe The Eagles, for instance, because they're very soulful and have a country slant. But they're not country, and they're not soul, and they can rock out. It describes The Band also, who we actually opened for at Carnegie Hall."

Though the soul part of the abbreviation may be a little dwarfed by the other three styles on The Bacon Brothers' current offering, Getting There, the album provides a diverse sampling of the band's abilities. Both brothers share acoustic guitar duties -- Michael handles the trickier stuff, as well as the cello -- and they alternate lead vocals and harmonies.

"It goes all over the map in terms of the style of music," says the 50-year-old Michael. "The songs are loosely based on personal experience. I don't think they're too much heart-on-the-sleeves-type things. I believe in writing personal songs, but at the same time, songs have to have a universal quality or else people don't really relate to them. Like if my wife doesn't put the cap back on the toothpaste, I don't need to write a song about it."

With Kevin's Hollywood connections (he can probably reach anyone in less than six phone calls) it must be tempting for him to invite all manner of celebrities to perform on the duo's albums or sit in with the band live. "I wouldn't do it anyway," Kevin says. "We have sort of a running joke that there always seems to be celebrities on the guest lists of our shows who never show up. My brother will attest to the fact that it's certainly my work, and I run into a lot of different people, but it's not my circle, really. I don't live in Hollywood, and I don't really spend a lot of time with celebrities."