>Kevin Bacon
THOSE FABULOUS BACON BOYS
As swaggering astronaut Jack Swigert in Apollo 13, Kevin Bacon kept his cool in the face of impending disaster. But the 37-year-old didn't fare as well the first time he took the stage in Pawling, N.Y., as one of the Bacon Brothers, the band he formed with his older brother and Emmy-winning composer Michael, 46, in 1994. "I was shaking, and I got that smelly kind of sweat you only get when you're scared," says the veteran actor, who performs in small northeastern clubs when he's not making movies or home in northwestern Connecticut with his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, and their two kids. "But I love it. Playing with my brother, we have such a connection."
How did the band get started?
My brother and I have written songs together before, and a friend who was involved in rock promotion in Philly, where we grew up, wanted us to get together to play a gig. One thing led to another; even without a manager or a record deal, we kept getting gigs. I call our style of music fo-ro-so-co, which stands for folk, rock, soul and country. We do original songs and some covers. I knew people would shout out, "Footloose," because no matter where I go—a bar mitzvah, a wedding—the deejay puts it on, and a crowd forms and starts clapping and wants me to do flips and stuff like a trained animal. So we play the song but do it kind of tongue-in-cheek.
Is your wife supportive?
She's great. Here I am, pushing 40 and saying, "Hey, I want to play rock music onstage!" For the first gig or two, Kyra came up onstage, and we did the old Marvin Gaye-Kim Weston song "It Takes Two." It was terrific.
So will you give up your day job?
I can't afford to. I'm amazed at how little this rock-and-roll thing pays. I'm way in the red.
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