Pat Monahan & TRAIN - Your Better Believe
Train fans hold on tight, there’s much in the works for believers in this platinum, Grammy-winning, music engine. Lead singer Pat Monahan wants “to prove Train fans right, you know? We all choose who we love and my job is to make sure that when you guys chose Train, you chose the right thing to love.” June 2019 kicks off the Save Me San Francisco Tour with the Goo Goo Dolls and special guest Allen Stone. Pat credits his wife as his fuel for all this action, “She’s a person I can goto for anything. I don’t need to be grounded. I need confidence and to be lifted up. She’s that fuel. WhenI have her and a glass of wine, I’ve got everything I need.” He’s thrilled to be hitting the road with The GooGoo Dolls after 6 years of trying to find enough time and the right time to perform songs covering to-day’s hits like the Heart-and-Soul infectious “Play That Song” to gems from 25 years ago. “We will collaborate onstage which I believe wholeheartedly is the magical moment in any concert, finding out that everyone, who has this blessed life to share their music, actually likes each other.” As for guest Allen Stone, “He’s probably more talented than everyone you see on stage. You won’t recognize his songs, but you will recognize his talent right away.”
Pat’s a giver. Quick to give gifts of compliments and credit to others as well as bestowing his lyrical and vocal treasures found throughout his body of work. He is humble, which fits his self-evaluation of“grounded.” His response to the query of personal intention and advice is,“When people ask me for advice, I never give it because my father never gave advice. He said ‘if you want to give me advice, I’d rather have you write me a check’. But...if I was to give advice... it is at all costs, be who you are. Because if you become successful you have to keep up that persona and if you haven’t been authentic it’s not going to be what you want it to be.”
His latest wine label, Drops of Jupiter, gives back too. November 2017marked the introduction of a second line of California-based wines, Drops of Jupiter, named after the song penned in honor of his beloved mom, which won the Grammy award for best rock song. Save Me, San Francisco WineCo. proudly donates proceeds from its sales to support Family House, a non-profit organization providing temporary housing to families of seriously ill children receiving treatment at the University Of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital. As a follow-up to his previous California-sourced range of Save Me, San Francisco Wine, Monahan has joined forces again with his friend and acclaimed winemaker James Foster for the DOJ$20 portfolio of wines sourced from unique wine regions around the globe, places that Pat discovered during his musical travel itinerary. Look forward to sampling his cabernet from the unusual origin of Australian vinesIf he wasn’t a musical prodigy/rockstar, Pat says, “I would not be a professional golfer because my game is shite, but I would be a chef. There’s great honor in service to me. Preparing food is such a noble profession. I used to think it was because it was creative, but I think it’s because feeding people is a noble thing to do.” Next up he wants to follow his 9 original albums, plus Led Zeppelin cover album, with recently recorded standards of music legend, lyricist, composer and inspiration, Johnny Mercer. “I miss that about music right now, songs that make me want to sing along.People want to participate, not just listen.” Then Pat intends to set off to produce an album in Nashville, “My favorite part of music is the bones of it. People like Clay Walker, Colt Ford and Toby Keith are inspiring people.I don’t trust a lot of people and all these guys are in the world that seems to really still be filled with honest, hard-working, heart-filled music.”
So the legendary bones of Train are still there and ready for an excavation and illumination. The recent cut “You Better Believe”, the addictive piano, chord-driven ballad off “A Girl, A Bottle, A Boat,” Pat explains, is about “How we all have our spiritual connection. My belief is that we get to hang out a little longer after we’re gone to see things through.”Train fans know and you will see, this band and its leader are walking between worlds and helping us see that we are all connected. They are even committed to letting us play along. Pat is a leader worth following.The best kind. Using his gifts to remind us to hold onto our own.