1994-Pat MonahanVocals, trumpet, sax, vibes, percussion1994-
Rob HotchkissGuitars, bass, harmonica, vocals1994-2003
Jimmy StaffordGuitars, mandolin, vocals1994-2016
Scott UnderwoodDrums, keyboards1994-2014
Charlie ColinBass, guitar, vocals1994-2003
Jerry BeckerKeyboards, guitar2009-
Hector MaldonadoBass2009-
Jimmy Stafford, Rob Hotchkiss and Pat Monahan formed the original version of the group in 1994 in San Francisco. At the time, they would trade off on lead vocals and Monahan was the drummer. They mostly played acoustic sets at small venues, and it quickly became clear that Monahan was better suited as a singer - and songwriter - than a drummer, so he became their frontman.
Before they got big comfy tour buses, Train toured in a van that caught on fire twice. After the second time, in 1998, they had to rent a Ryder truck to finish their tour.
They were formed in San Francisco, but Monahan came there from Erie, Pennsylvania, where he had been in a band that specialized in Led Zeppelin covers.
Columbia Records - like every other label they approached - rejected Train in 1996 but signed them in 1998 after they released their first album on their own. Columbia re-released the album that year, and in 1999 issued "
Meet Virginia" as a single, giving the band their first hit.
After years of struggle, they were more than happy to take some corporate cash when it came their way in 1999. That year, they embarked on the DKNY Jeans Tour with two other acts that each had a minor hit: Splender ("Yeah, Whatever") and Shooter "Life's a Bitch." At each stop, the bands had to take turns performing in-store gigs at department stores on behalf of DKNY before the show that night. Train ended up playing Macy's in New York City and Marshall Field's in Chicago.
The Blue Front Cafe on Haight Street in San Francisco was the first coffeehouse to give Train a regular gig.
After signing their record deal, Train was managed by Jon Landau, the same man who took care of Bruce Springsteen and Shania Twain.
They had some down years after their third album,
My Private Nation, was released in 2003. Monahan, who got married when he was 19, went through a divorce a short time later and lost one of his best friends to suicide in 2005. Their next album,
For Me, It's You, reflects his mindset and didn't have any hits. The band went on hiatus, but when they returned to make their 2009 album
Save Me, San Francisco, they were back in pop form and returned to the charts with feel-good songs like "
Hey Soul Sister" and "
Marry Me."
That scar on Pat Monahan's chin came from when he was in a car accident at 17 years old. He wasn't wearing a seat belt.
Monahan cites an Aerosmith show he saw at 14 as his influence as a musician. At that show, he caught a drumstick in the chest. He's also cited guitarist Robbie Robertson from The Band as a major influence.
Train's self-titled debut album features Counting Crows keyboardist Charlie Gillingham.
Charlie Colin, their original bass player, died at 58 in 2024 when he slipped and fell in a shower while house-sitting for a friend.
Pat Monahan is a golf aficionado with some high-profile pals in the sport. He plays at the same course as Aussie golfer Cam Davis and counts another Australian golfer, Jason Day, as a friend.
Train founded the Save Me, San Francisco Wine Company in 2011. Their wine business isn't just a rock-star side hustle - it's a major philanthropic effort with proceeds benefiting Family House, a San Francisco charity that provides housing for seriously ill children and their families.
Train weren't always as wholesome as they are now. "I was a drunk," Pat Monahan told Blender in 2001. "I've been sober for almost five years. There's no other profession in which there's a case of beer waiting for you at work. When we were playing clubs in San Francisco, we worked for free beer - until they saw what I could drink. You hear about Train being 'clean-cut guys': It's because we all went through the bulls--t. We did coke, went into rehab... It's just that it's over now."
Monahan and his bandmates Jerry Becker (keyboards) and Matt Musty (drums) collaborated to write the music for the 2026 musical
Begin Again. It was an eye-opening experience for the songwriters, who quickly realized they were out of their element. "Within two years, we realized this is the least amount of fun we've ever had," Monahan
admitted to the Off The Record podcast in 2026.
They had to adjust to writing songs from the perspective of fictional characters that fit specific scenes while abandoning a key aspect of the standard songwriting formula. "You don't repeat choruses because the second chorus has to say something different because you're basically telling the story within the song, so they don't have to write dialogue," he added. "It was very difficult because, on Broadway, 'That's amazing' means 'Rewrite that sh--t.' And that took a long time to figure out, and I quit a couple times."
While the band were trying to make a name for themselves in San Francisco, they regularly played at a bar called Mad Dog In The Fog, where they dreamed of becoming famous along with other hopefuls. Train named their 2026 album
Mad Dog In The Fog, along with its
title track, after the bar because it was such an important part of their history.
Some songwriters struggle with writer's block - Pat Monahan isn't one of them. Musical ideas are constantly running through his head and plaguing his dreams. "I can't wait to have writer's block, and I can just go play golf," he said. "Like I wish I could turn this thing off."
