It's been another busy year for the Grammy Award-winning band Train. They released the single "Long Yellow Dress" earlier this year and recorded a show at The Royal Albert Hall for a live album that will come out later this year.
They are also on the road this summer, including a stop at Artpark on July 19.
Even though the band originated in San Francisco, Train's lead singer, Pat Monahan, grew up in nearby Erie, Pennsylvania, so he is familiar with Niagara Falls and Western New York.
"Going to Niagara Falls was my first taste of Canada," Monahan said during a recent phone interview. "I never went over it in a barrel or jumped it (laughs), but to this day, I love attending Canadian events, and many of my closest friends who live nearby are Canadian."
"The area is important to me; I attended a lot of concerts in the region and was part of the local music scene. As for Buffalo, I am friends with The Goo Goo Dolls, and they assure me they can get me into any club in Buffalo," he noted.
Train and The Goo Goo Dolls toured together in 2019.
Train's first album, released in 1998, included the hit "Meet Virginia." By 2003, the group had released two more albums, and they had already amassed Grammy Awards and released the iconic song "Drops of Jupiter."
Despite the success of their first three albums, Train's 2006 release, "For Me It's You," failed to live up to expectations. The group went on hiatus for three years while Monahan recorded a solo album titled "Last of Seven."
In October 2009, the group released "Save Me, San Francisco." The album was not an immediate success; it took the single "Hey, Soul Sister" nearly six months to reach the top of the Billboard charts.
"There's a remarkable thing about that album," Monahan shared. "I wrote 80 songs for it, and I believe three made that album what it became. We were in a lot of trouble with our career, I had made a solo album that didn't do well, and I wasn't happy with the band, and they weren't happy with me."
Despite these challenges, Train persevered and found their way back to success.
"We had many internal problems, and we needed to write our way out of them," Monahan said. "The standout track for me is 'I Got You,' which defined the sound of the album. I wrote it with Kevin Griffin (from Better Than Ezra), and he said, 'Let's make 'Meet Virginia' part two. It was the track that defined the sound of the album."
The album's early tour dates were in small clubs, including a March 23, 2010, date at The Town Ballroom. The highlight of the evening was an a capella version of "When I Look to the Sky," which Monahan sang without a microphone. It was surreal how quiet the audience was during the rendition.
"We don't get the opportunity to play small clubs anymore, but there are songs like 'Marry Me' that I love to present in a way that is just like sitting in a living room, where everyone is quiet for a few minutes."
Since "Save Me, San Francisco," the band has continued to record and tour. Their last record, "AM Gold," came out in May 2022.
With a catalog that boasts so many iconic songs, Train is facing what Joe Bonamassa once told me is a "Cadillac problem," which is when a band has so many songs it is expected to perform that it becomes harder to add newer material to the setlist.
"I love that term," Monahan said. "I just recorded a cover song with Joe that should be coming out soon. But as far as the setlist goes, we try and keep a few slots open in it, and with social media, we can ask for requests or see if there is a song we missed."
We closed with a quick discussion about The Buffalo Bills, as Monahan had mentioned attending a Bills game when he lived in Erie.
"I grew up a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, but I remember going to a Bills game against the Raiders with friends of mine who rooted for the Raiders, and I was rooting for the Bills."
"Later, I became good friends with Marshawn Lynch, and he was already playing for the Seahawks, and he had a Bills hat on the dash of his car, facing out. When I asked him why, he said, 'Because that was my favorite place to play, and those people were the best I ever played for.'"
Let's hope Pat says that about Artpark's crowd.
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Thom Jennings writes about the regional music scene for the the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal and the Niagara Gazette.
