Pat Monahan of Train doesn’t need to write new songs and make new albums. He’s had more than enough hits over a career that now spans nearly 30 years to be able to tour for as long he wants.
But he’s back with a new Train album, “AM Gold,” back on tour this summer (topping a bill that also includes Jewel and Blues Traveler) and hoping this latest album will give him another hit single – or more. Far from coasting on a catalog that includes more than 20 adult pop hits, Monahan’s still as driven as ever to stay in the current pop music conversation.
Train takes the stage tonight at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.
“You know, there was a famous conversation between Billy Joel and Elton John where Elton John was like ‘How come you aren’t making new albums?’ And he (Joel) says ‘How come you haven’t stopped?’” Monahan recalled in a mid-May phone interview. “But Elton has this desire to continue to be relevant. And I have that same desire…I feel more like Elton John than Billy Joel.”
“It’s not about record sales,” he concluded. “It’s simply the desire to stay relevant.”
“AM Gold” finds the latest lineup of Train – Monahan, drummer Matt Musty, keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Becker, guitarist Taylor Locke, bassist Hector Maldonado and backing singers Sakai Smith and Nikita Houston, working more as a band than ever.
On the band’s previous two albums, “Bulletproof Picasso” and “A Girl, a Bottle a Boat,” Monahan had collaborated with outside writers to generate songs he hoped would have commercial potential. But as work on “AM Gold” progressed, Monahan ended up writing primarily with Musty and Becker.
Monahan said he had not settled on how many songs from “AM Gold” to include alongside hits and other back catalog material in Train’s shows this summer. He expected some early fan feedback online would point him toward what new songs to perform. But whatever form the set list takes, fans can expect a lively show with some visual splash.
“Hopefully we’ll have a little pyro for everybody, some real fun explosions, and a great light show,” Monahan said. “But within reason. It won’t be a Kiss show.”
Photo by Brooke Clark.
