Train

About Train

Train started in San Francisco in 1993 when Pat Monahan, a struggling musician from Pennsylvania, met Rob Hotchkiss at a jam session. They built the band around straightforward guitar-driven rock that didn't try too hard to be anything it wasn't. The self-titled debut in 1998 gave them "Meet Virginia," a song that hung around alternative radio long enough to make people remember their name.

Their second album Drops of Jupiter in 2001 changed everything. The title track became unavoidable that year, with its string arrangement and oddly specific lyrics about checking out Mozart while doing Tae Bo. It won two Grammys and turned Train from a band your older sibling might see at a club into something playing during every montage on prime time television. The album went double platinum. "Calling All Angels" followed as a quieter, more earnest single that proved they could do the emotional ballad thing pretty well.

Then came the difficult middle period. My Private Nation in 2003 had "When I Look to the Sky," but the momentum was different. For Me, It's You in 2006 didn't connect the same way. The lineup changed significantly, with founding members leaving. By the late 2000s, Train looked like they might become one of those bands that had their moment and faded into county fair circuits.

Save Me, San Francisco in 2009 was their unlikely comeback. "Hey, Soul Sister" became exponentially bigger than "Drops of Jupiter" ever was, the kind of song you'd hear in grocery stores, at weddings, and during commercial breaks for the next five years. The ukulele hook was infectious even if you found yourself slightly annoyed by how catchy it was. "Marry Me" became the wedding song for people who wanted something more recent than Etta James.

They leaned into this new version of themselves on California 37 in 2012 and Bulletproof Picasso in 2014. The songs got sunnier, more openly pop, less concerned with rock credibility. "Drive By" and "Bruises" followed the "Hey, Soul Sister" template. Critics weren't particularly interested, but the band found a sustainable lane playing feel-good pop rock for adults who wanted something safe for the car ride.

Monahan's the consistent center through all of it, his voice immediately recognizable even when the production around it shifts. The band still tours regularly, often on package bills with other acts from the same era. They put out A Girl, a Bottle, a Boat in 2017 and AM Gold in 2022, maintaining the sound they've settled into.

Train exists now as a reliable source of major-key pop rock. They're not trying to reinvent anything, and that seems fine with everyone involved.

Train shows are wedding reception energy. People sing along to every word of the big hits, the crowd gets genuinely into it, and there's a lot of swaying and phone recording. Monahan talks between songs in a way that either lands as charming or self-indulgent. Shows run long and feel competent.

Known for Drops of Jupiter, Hey Soul Sister, Calling All Angels, Meet Virginia, Marry Me

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