Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Summer solstice seemed a long time of coming this year,
or was that just me? For a while, I thought
we were going to be stuck in a wet, wild
spring forever. But like clockwork, the days gradually got longer
and lighter, until summer truly arrived. Now, along with sunsets
that happen long after my younger kids are supposed to
(00:26):
be sound asleep. We can count on warmer days as
long as I've got water to irrigate. I get to
watch my veggies grow, and I'll be doing a little
happy dance when they start to produce fresh, delicious produce
I'll greedily feast upon all season long. What do you
love most about summers? Our outdoor concerts on your list
(00:49):
of things to do? If so, my friend, you are
in luck. It seems like everyone is touring this year.
How wonderful to be able to say that a couple
of mom my favorites are with me today. In fact,
Train and Rao Speedwagon, two diamonds selling bands, are hitting
the road this summer together for an epic co headline
(01:11):
North American tour. The Frontman Freach Group, My good friend
Pat Monahan and someone I've long admired but never got
to meet before. Kevin Cronin, are going to spend the
next half hour with us in happy conversation. You guys,
this is going to be so fantastic. I was listening
to Ario Speedwagon's hits when DJ's still spun records back
(01:33):
in the days I was playing them. Formed in nineteen
sixty seven and fronted by iconic vocalist Kevin Cronin since
nineteen seventy two, Ario Speedwagon's unrelenting drive, as well as
NonStop touring and recording, jump started the rock movement in
the Midwest. That's where it all started. Platinum albums and
(01:57):
radio staples soon followed, setting the stage for the release
of the band's explosive High Fidelity in nineteen eighty, which
contained the massive single Keep On Loving You and Take
It on the Run. That landmark album spent fifteen weeks
in the number one slot and has since earned the
(02:18):
RIAS coveted ten Times Diamond Award for surpassing sales of
ten million units in the United States. And I'll Never Forget.
When Train hit the scene in the late nineties with
their smart, sentimental sensations, Meat Virginia gave them their first
radio hit, and two thousand and one's Drops of Jupiter
(02:40):
broke them to a multi platinum status thanks to the
double Grammy winning title song. Next was another Grammy with
Hay Soul's Sister, and the hits Jazz keep coming. They've
just released a brand new single, Long Yellow Dress. The
Summer Road Trip twenty twenty four is bringing together Trains
critically a cliamed catalog of global hits with R. EO.
(03:04):
Speedwagon's vast collection of timeless classics for an unforgettable night
of music, high energy, and fun that transcend several generations.
With more than fifty million albums sold worldwide, thirty two
(03:25):
songs on Billboard's Top one hundred, twenty eight albums on
the Billboard two hundred album chart. Between them, fans nationwide
have a chance to witness epic sets from two of
the hardest working, fun loving, non stop touring bands as
they perform hours of hits featuring chart topping anthems and
(03:46):
timeless fan favorites. But before they set off on their
Summer road Trip, we get to experience all this goodness.
Pat Monahan and Kevin Cronin right here with us today.
These fabulous conversation can't happen without willing sponsors. Before we
get into today's conversations, I'm going to take some time
(04:06):
to thank our sponsors for helping to bring us together
with wonderful guests. We have the opportunity to get to
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and Love twenty four with me in the studio for
love Someone Today or our two giants in the music industry.
Let's add up how many years together you two have
been performing? Pat Monahan Train and Kevin cronin Rio Speedwagon?
How many years between the two of you and I
(06:21):
second math? But I've got a pin, so I'm going
to figure out that, and then how many years I've
been playing your music?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
You've got a pen that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I know how to use it. I don't need a
calculator to do simple math. Kevin, how many years with
Rio Speedwagon? What year did you start?
Speaker 2 (06:39):
I joined the band in nineteen seventy two, I took
a two year hiatus, so I have to subtract. There's
gonna be some subtraction invalve here. So nineteen seventy two
to twenty twenty four, so that's fifty two. But I
got them, so fifty.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I'm you're in a solid fifty.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
That's incredible, okay. Pat, I've been with Train first is
basically nineteen ninety four, so it's been thirty years.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
But fifty years is that's that's okay.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So that's eighty years between the two of you, eighty
years touring, eighty years performing, eighty years doing the press,
junket and all that good stuff. And this September will
be fifty years for me on the air.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
It's and thirty years. Right, done it. We've done it everyone.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Wow, that's it. And I think I have played every
hit that either one of you have ever written or recorded. Ever.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I would say that that's definitely true.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
There might be a few Kevin from Ario that were
a little little rocking for the Delilah Show at night.
But I was on the air ten years in the
seventies and eighties until nineteen eighty four, from seventy four
to eighty four that I didn't. I played everything I wasn't,
you know, just at night being mellow, I was drive.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
You're the queen of love songs and of just that
romantic you know.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, But before I was the queen of love songs,
I was afternoon drive on a rock station for a year. Yeah, Hey, okay,
you know what. I cannot listen to a single song
on the radio or Spotify or my my iPhone whatever
without talking up the ramp. To this day, I just
I have to nail it. And I still step all
(08:37):
over the vocals.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
So you guys are touring this summer. There's so many
good concerts this summer. Thank you God for live music.
Remember a couple of years ago, and you know, COVID
hit and we couldn't go anywhere or see anything or
listen to anything. That was hell. And now you guys
start touring.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
When the eighth of July, we are in Wisconsin. We
started out.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
You start out in Wisconsin.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Even the people in Wisconsin said, you're starting in Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Well that's a perfect place to start. But Wisconsin people
are they love live music. I'm from Chicago, so I
know I'm I'm married to Wisconsin girl. And I will
tell you that people Wisconsin, man, they they love their
packers and they love live rock and roll. And and
I think it's a great place to start because you
(09:36):
know it's the first show. You know, you don't want
to you know, you don't want to start at the
Forum or you know.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
You want to build up, So you're starting in Wisconsin
and uh, and then what what's the route taking you?
Are you flying or are you bussing it?
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I'm bussing it. That love buses. I think they're just
the most lovely way to travel.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And who's who is on? I got the Pat I
got to ask who's on? Who's on the Pat Monahan
train bus? Just is it just you in one or
is it the whole thing? Like do you have like
multiple people in bunks?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
It's just me because I'll have lots of people coming
out to stay with me, whether it's my family or writers.
And so that'll be the work bus in a lot
of ways. And then my band will have a bus
and my crew will have a bus. How do you
how do you guys work at Kevin?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
You know, we normally do a band bus and a
crew bus. Uh. And uh yeah, that's what we uh
in the band bunks it together and uh you know
we uh.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And are you on the band bus the crew bus?
Are you and wife flying in and out?
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I like to ride the band bus because it's because
it's fun. We we call ourselves. We have a little
sub name for the band. We calls off the Back
Lounge Boys. And it just started happening about six months
ago where a couple of guys were in the back
lounge and I normally don't go in the back lounge
because it's in the back, right, and I saw some
(11:04):
some feet you can see now in the bunk uh
uh a little hallway, and I went back there. Next thing,
we knew, the whole band was back there, and we
were just like having a great time. So now that's
what we do. We get on the bus, everybody goes
to the to the back lounge. We have our little
back lounge boys meeting if anything's got anyone's got anything
(11:26):
on their mind or you know, there's a lot going
on in the band these days. And uh so that's
our little connection room. And then we uh you know,
then we.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Peel off into the bunks and call your significant others.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yeah, so it's kind of a vibe. So I decided to,
uh to stick with that for the summer tour.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
That's some pretty healthy little mechanism you got going on there, Kevin.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Well, you know what, like I say, it kind of
happened organically. And you know, so when when when when
that type of stuff happens in a band? You're right,
pat it it's it is healthy. And I'm know you
guys have got you know you I've seen you know,
the train Boys in action and that, and you know
when the band is is you know, getting along well
(12:10):
and uh, it's it's you know, the audience is the
ultimate winner, because the better you're feeling, the better you're
going to play.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
So so one of the saddest things in my entire
life is the fact that I love music in the
core of my being and I have zero talent. I
cannot I can sing a song if it's only three notes.
(12:38):
I have like a three note range. If auto tune
could save me, I would be on the bus with
you guys, because that sounds like so much fun.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Dahlia, you could definitely sing some of my songs because
there are If you think about a song, the first
one that comes to my mind is roll with the changes. Uh,
it's about a three or four note range.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Okay, maybe maybe I could be on the bus then
could lounge Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Hell yeah, you could be one of the back lounge boys.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Pat, Do you need just some downtime? Like do you
because I've seen you on stage you are phenomenal? Do
you then have to like decompress and have downtime to
charge your batteries?
Speaker 3 (13:23):
I love I love my band. They are lovely people,
just like Kevin loves his band. But I have you know,
there's one thing that I need, and that is a lot,
a lot of sleep and alone time to recover.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
How much sleep? How much sleep do you average on
a night?
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Like?
Speaker 2 (13:41):
What do you know?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
You never get any sleep when I'm at home because
I'm running kids around everywhere. So I like, I got
like four hours of sleep bus night. But when I'm
touring and I have to do forty five shows, I
need ten hours of sleep because it's the only thing
that really heals your vocal cords is rest and liquid. Right,
So I drink as much wine as I can and
sleep as much as I can because politically the.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Baby Wow, somebody asked me today because my husband and
I live in two different states. We have a commuter marriage.
And somebody was very bold today and she said, why
why is that? Can I ask why you don't live together?
And I kind of chuckled. I'm like, well, do I
tell her the truth or do I tell her my
standard answer?
Speaker 2 (14:24):
But he too, and then we'll decide which one I
can go with.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
The truth is he he he was in the military
for years and a cop for years, and he's deaf,
so he wears hearing aids. But when he takes the
hearing aids out, he hears nothing. Nothing. He doesn't hear
the kids having asthma attacks, the dog barking, you know
that needs to go decides at three o'clock in the morning,
she needs to go pee outside. He hears none of that.
(14:51):
And so I get resentful because, like Pat said, you're
up running kids, you're doing this, You're doing that. They
got a cold, they got a cough, they got a pee,
they gotta whatever. And then I'm just laying there going
he's sleeping peacefully. But when he's not here, when it's
just me, I don't have those resentments.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Let's hear the fake answer though.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
No, the fake answer is, well, you know, he had
a life before we met, and I had a life
before we met, and we decided to combine our hearts,
but not getting you know, asked the other person to
make the huge sacrifice and give up their whole life.
And that is true. But bigger than that is while
going through a menopause. You do not want your wife
(15:32):
to have a ballpoint pin in the middle of the
night when you're sleeping peacefully and your eight year old
son is having an asthma attack.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I have a really good solution for you, Dlilah. I
think that you should start telling people that you want
your husband to live a long life and you don't
want to do any time in prison.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Exactly because although I look great in this long yellow dress,
not so much orange.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
No, I don't want to see an organ. I just don't.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
But I would rock it on a party bus. I would.
I would so rock it on the band bus. That
would be look too.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
I've been around you like you can. You can get
on with anybody. Oh my gosh, with the boys.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
I would. I don't need a glass of wine. I
can just have a glass of water and roll with
the best of them like I will be up talking
and listening and prying into your business. Kevin, at the
end of one night on the party bus, I would
know all of your band guys, all of their relationships,
all of their regrets.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
That sounds like my wife. My wife has that has
that talent as well. She just she has a way
of sitting down with someone and people feel compelled to
disclose things that they haven't told to their best friends.
And they've just met my wife within the five minute period.
So you and my wife would be a formidable See
(16:59):
if you guys all see.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
That, if you guys came and spent like a week
with me in my studio, you would have enough material
to write songs for the rest of your natural lives.
The stuff people tell me, it's unbelievable. Pat you said
your family's joining you on the road? Kids, wife, dogs?
What are we talking here?
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Mostly so my son will join us. Several times he sings.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
I'm gonna say, isn't he also an artist?
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, he's like he's an artist on our cruises and
he's writing songs with me.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Now.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
He's in a Led Zeplin cover band currently doing School
of Rocks. So he has a concert this Sunday and
I want him to only do this concert and then
maybe not sings up one for a while because I've
damaged my vocal cords from singing leeds up on songs.
So you gotta nurture the young part of him, and
my wife will They'll just come out periodically. And then
(17:56):
I'm supposed to make a trip to Nashville that I
just can't get together. So I'm going to have these
Nashville people come and meet me on the road so
we can just work together.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Oh that is sweet. You can't get to Nashville. So
Nashville's coming to train to Pat Monahan.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Well, I mean in a way, I guess. So they'll
have fun. You know. They make it fun too because
a lot of these writers they're in studios every day,
so getting on a tour bus is going to be
fun for them.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
That submit Like to me, that would be a dream
come true to get to do that, to get to
we kind of used to do that. My husband and
I would take our kids and the neighbor kids on
road trips in the summer, and so we would do
a van and the motor home and like the last
(18:47):
the biggest trip we went on, we had ourselves and
thirteen young people and it was fun, but it wasn't
like being with adults because all I'm doing is saying
stop stop hitting your brother, stop hitting your sister, do
not put the hot marshmallow in somebody's hair, stop it,
stop it, stop it. Where I think if I was
(19:09):
like on a party bus with you guys touring it,
I probably wouldn't be like telling grown men how to
roast marshmallows. I might.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I don't know, you've never been in our crew bus,
but you know.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Would I have to like tell them to stop hitting
their brother?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Well, you might. You might have something along those lines.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Okay, silliest craziest thing, pat you go first, that's happened
on a tour bus. That's that's decent because this is
like a family podcast here that you can share craziest
experience that you can share while you were touring.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Decent.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Decent.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, that's going to be tough.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
That's gonna take me a second. Okay, there's not a
lot of decency out there. You sound like it sounds
like you enjoy the chaos of your life, like when
you're in a studio doing a podcast like that quiet time,
you alone time and then when you're not working. It
sounds like you need baby pigs and thirteen kids in.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
A van like I do.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
I do?
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Yeah, Yeah, you know what I enjoy. I enjoy creating memories.
My parents gave my siblings and I so many fabulous
memories that even though our folks died young, that has
sustained us our entire adult life. My folks were not
set on the couch and watch TV kind of people,
(20:40):
you know. They were Let's go do it. Let's go
to the beach, Let's go to the ocean, Let's go fishing,
Let's go crabbing, Let's go make something in the shop.
Let's go cut down a tree and take a piece
of wood and turn it into a bowl or whatever.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
And those memories have sustained me and are the building blocks,
the foundations of whom I am. To that end, we
you know, I want to have campouts, cookouts, music around
the fire. We do drum circles at my farm. Now,
I want them to have that storehouse of memories, and
(21:14):
music is such a a core part of that.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
It sounds like you could sell tickets to one family gatherings.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Uh watch, Yeah, there's there's just so much goodness in
that and and music, like I said, is such a
part of that. I was dancing to my proms Kevin,
to your music, and all I have to hear is
one or two notes. Pat's music was, you know, at
one or two of my weddings.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
One two, you know, But all you have to do
is hear like one note, two notes, and it you're
right there.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
You're back in the day, You're back in that. You
are transport. Did you know time travel for me is music? Yeah,
for me when I listened to music, and I think
that's why the folks in Wisconsin and every place in
America who come out to your shows come and throngs,
because it transports us to a time that was so
(22:18):
much it seems like simpler. Maybe it wasn't, but it
felt simpler.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Go ahead, Pat, I was just going to say, there's
not many other forms of media or art that take
you two places inside of your memory like music, Like
you don't go oh, I remember the first time I
watched Scarface. I was with Carol. You know. It's more
like I remember the first time I heard you know,
(22:46):
I can't stop that. You know, whatever the song might be,
you know where you were when you heard it, and
I agree, like it's a powerful thing. And I think
that when we play this summer, there's going to be
so many familiar songs, like when I watch Kevin and
the guys up there every night, I'll be taken to
all those places and it'll be a lot of fun
for me as uh, you know, as a friend of
(23:07):
his and also as you know, a colleague that will
be on stage as well.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
All right, back to my question. Can either of you
think of anything crazy that happened on the tour bus
that you can share?
Speaker 2 (23:20):
N Wow, you know our tour bus is is is pretty,
It's it's our home and and uh, you know when
when we're in the road that that's that's home base.
And and that's kind of why I like, I prefer
the tour bus to flying, because you you sleep and
travel at the same time, and then you have the
(23:43):
next day to you know, walk, take a walk, see
see the city that you know. I like to walk
around the city that we're playing on the day of
a show and just kind of feel the vibe, you know,
see what's going on.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
You know, So neither one of you have anything that's
and is what you're saying you both are sitting there smiling,
and this is audio, so they can't see. You both
have have shit eating grins on your face. So you've
got stories, just none of them that are decent, is
what I'm hearing. Fact the word decent, That is the
fact that it's a family friendly show here and just
shot you all the pieces, Okay, I will share one
(24:21):
years ago, Glenn Campbell was on tour and I got
to introduce him on stage, and he opened the show
with amazing grace on the bagpipes, and he broke his
front tooth off on the bagpipes the opening number, and
(24:41):
I ran onto the tour bus with super glued that
I had in my purse because I used to wear
fake nails and glued his tooth back on so he
could go back out on stage.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
True story, that is that is crazy and decent.
Speaker 1 (25:14):
All right, So let's get back to this this tour
and uh and all the wonderful things going on. You
are You were in an episode of Ozark, Kevin, I
was what season?
Speaker 2 (25:29):
It was? Season three? They Uh, they wanted a band
to play on the on the river boat Riverboat for
the grand opening and the you know, since the show
is set right in the heart of what we call
Ril country, you know, the Ozarks, halfway between Kansas City
(25:50):
and Saint Louis.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
I think that's why we got the gig. But so
I had a couple of lines, so I was so
they gave me a little print out of the of
the scene, and on the top of each page of
the print out it said, Kevin Cronin was here, and
you know, and they were so sweet, all the actors
and the writers, and I'm like, wow, they're really going
(26:13):
out of their way to make me feel comfortable here,
That's what I thought. And so then of course the
pandemic hit and season three dropped, and all of our
kids came home from their various dorms and apartments, and
we all sat in the TV room and here we
are watching episode three, and the name of the episode
(26:34):
was actually they ended up calling it Kevin Cronin was Here.
So I will say that for that hour and maybe
five to ten minutes afterwards, my kids actually thought that
I was cool.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
It lasted that long, like ten minutes.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
That long, you know, all of ten minutes, and well,
I soaked it up. You know, doesn't happen that often.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Pat's really cool man. That's like one of the all
time great shows that has ever come out of any
streaming site. I was going through an airport a couple
of years ago and one of the TSA guy goes, man,
you look like Justin Bateman, and I go, I am
Justin Bateman, Jason Bateman's actor.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Ah, that's funny. You do kind of look like him though,
past Justin Bateman. Yeah, Justin or Jason either one? Is
that his evil twin brother.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
So that's a joke we have in our band will
be like, uh, man, you sound just like McCartney. H
And then we'll say his his wife's name, what was
what was Paul's wife's name?
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Linda?
Speaker 3 (27:50):
You mean you sound like McCartney Linda McGarty.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Oh, that is funny. So you guys are going on tour.
You've got some projects going on. Pat you got a
new song out.
Speaker 3 (28:03):
I think there might be some yellow dresses out there
this summer. We're gonna have to hold a contest and
give some prizes out.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
You should have everybody that comes to the concert wear
along yellow dress. Wouldn't that be an amazing video?
Speaker 3 (28:16):
Would be pretty fun. Yeah, we've been doing a lot
of TikTok s. Lately, I'm terrible at them, so we
have to have help. But I'm wearing a yellow dress
in one of them.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
True, it's not as pretty as the one in the video.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I'm are you now? Are you now?
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Are you now?
Speaker 3 (28:36):
It's very Irish? Are you now?
Speaker 1 (28:39):
We are Irish, like our heritage is Irish. A lot
of Irish and British and English. But I've never been
to any of those places.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Well you fixed somebody's broken tooth. Of course you're Irish.
This is the way we do our lives.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
I hope you are loving today's conversation as much as
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(31:13):
your favorite Okay, train, pat, where did you get the
name for your band?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (31:21):
The guy started the band with who hasn't been with
me in twenty five years? He was listening to an
interview with one of the guys from Echo and the Bunnymen,
and the guy said there was nothing romantic about America,
and so this guy was like, the locomotive's pretty romantic.
So we went with train as a working title, and
(31:41):
nobody had it, so we kept.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
It as opposed to locomotive.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
I would have preferred locomotive, but.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Because locomotive sounds a little more romantic than train.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Okay, well you know, here we are thirty years later.
I wish I would have known me back down.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
I love travel on train. I don't do it very often.
I was on the East Coast recently and we had
to get from Connecticut down to New York, and so
I thought it would be a good idea to take
my kids and some of my grandkids on the train.
Other people didn't think that was such a good idea,
because when you're used to riding trains and big cities,
(32:23):
you have a routine. Like you know, you got a routine.
You don't want to be interrupted, you don't want to
be distracted. You want to sit down with your iPad
or whatever and just put on your headphones and zone out.
And I'm like, Hi, what's your name? Where are you from?
How often do you ride this train? And my grandkids
and my kids are running up and down and up
and down and up and down and up and down.
Speaker 3 (32:44):
My mass transit routine is breakdancing. I love to break
dance to disrupt everyone else's routine. That's my thing. I've
seen the greatest videos of all time with people dancing
in trains, and it just that would make me crazy.
I just want my air buds in and and.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
To be left alone, all right, Kevin, your turn, Ario Speedwagon.
How'd you get the name? I know because my sister
told me, But it's such a fun story.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I had nothing to do with it personally. It was
it was our our founding One of our two founding members,
the original keyboard player in the band, was The band
started in Champagne Illinois, the home of the University of Illinois.
Which is a great place to start a band, is
on any college campus because you've got fifty thousand young
(33:37):
people all over in a small area.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
And closed space, a FoST audience.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
If you get people going and get people dancing, and
it's it's a great way to start. And he walked
into a history of transportation class. He was he was
in his final year, the semester for graduation, and he
walked in the classroom and on the chalkboard and said,
(34:05):
our EO speedwagon. They were talking about the original old
truck that could get to a fire faster than the
horse drawn carriage. And his parents were thrilled when a
few weeks later he dropped out, just a couple of
months from graduation and ran off with a rock band.
So but it worked out okay for him, he.
Speaker 1 (34:27):
I'd say, so, I'd say that turned out our education.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
So the REO Speedwagon stands for.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Ransom Eli Olds. He he was he was a designer
for GM and he designed their their luxury line of cars.
And this is in the early twentieth century, and he
assumed that they would name this luxury vehicle after him.
(34:54):
The oldmobile. But what what General Motors did is they
decided that they would aim their their top tier UH
car line after the city that it was made in,
which was Cadillac Michigan. So so Ransom got a little
pissed and was like, I'm out of here, and he
went and started his own company. Though your own motor
(35:17):
car company.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I never knew that.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Wow, And I will tell you this, I may have
made that up, but or I'm not. I'm not sure,
but you know, I'm going with it.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
I love this.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
You know, it's been fifty two years since. You know,
a lot a lot of changes.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
A lot changes, and a lot of brain cells die.
You know.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Yes, I'm nurturing all the all the remaining brain cells
as well as I can. But yeah, there were there
were a few years there in the late seventies that
you know that I left a few at the Record
Planned in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
I purposely just left them there. You just said, I
don't need those. I'm just going to blow through them,
so to speak.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
I don't know if it was purposely, but uh, it was,
it was unavoidably. It just, uh, you know, that's the
way that studio rolled a studio. Where are you ready. So,
so if you were recording at the Record Plant in
Los Angeles, it was it was almost like you were
in a club and anyone who was inside the studio
(36:22):
was considered a member of the club. They had a
they had an indoor jacuzzie, they had they had an
impossibly difficult video game called Pong that none of us
could figure out how to play. But I'd be I'll
never I was walking down the hallway and around the
corner comes George Harrison and and we just meet in
(36:42):
the quarter and he just walks up and gives me
this big hug, like we're like we've known each other
all our lives. And it was and and the Record
Plant was that kind of a place where people were,
you know, uh Al Cooper. I bumped into Al Cooper,
the famous organist at Al Cooper, and he invited me
to go across the street and have lunch with him.
(37:04):
We'd never met. And so it's just a magical, wonderful place.
And it was worth it any brain cells I left there,
it was worth it.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
It was worth it. Well, I can't wait to come
see you guys. I hope everybody comes out watches your show,
dances their little Patuiti's off and wears Pat. We got
to get everybody. We got to get everybody who comes
to your show this summer to wear a long yellow dress.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
It would be so incredible.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Or a short yellow dress. I'm not going to stand up.
Mine's actually a short yellow dress.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
But it doesn't matter how long it is.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Yeah, yeah, just a yellow dress. Pat. Tell me about
the new album coming out. We've all heard the song,
We've all danced to the song. It's very dancy summary
breezy song. Tell me about the whole album.
Speaker 3 (37:51):
Well, we were recently in Europe and the UK and
got a chance to perform at a sold out Albert
Royal Hall, which is one of the most iconic venues
in the world. Some of my favorite things I've ever heard,
like led Zeppelin albums, all recorded there. So we recorded
(38:12):
a live album at the Royal Albert Hall. I just
heard the mixes two days ago and I think that
it will be out within the next few weeks and
I will just I think, be called Train Live at
the Royal Albert Hall. I don't know that there's another
name for us. Maybe we should call it train Ario
(38:33):
Speedwagon Live at the Royal Albert Hall, even though they
weren't with us. We can maybe sell a few more,
you know what I mean? Kevin?
Speaker 1 (38:38):
You know you dug out there.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
Train and Taylor Swift live there, you go a Royal Albert.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Hall and all you have to do is have a
cutout of her there.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Yeah, just some type of likeness that we'll get sued for.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
I heard her, I heard her singing. I thought I
heard her voice.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I thought her there in the background.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
Yeah, okay, all of our this summer, Kevin, you probably
haven't seen it yet, but it's all Taylor Swift, nice everything.
And then you know, three shows in those will get
sued and it'll be ceased and assist. But we'll make millions.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Between billions, and you'll get on all the late night
talk shows talking about it.
Speaker 2 (39:16):
It's nice.
Speaker 3 (39:18):
We got a plan.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
Damn Why didn't I?
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Kevin? You got a book you're working on, Roll with
the Changes My Life Within and Without Reo Speedwagon.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Yeah. That that was an accident that actually started in England.
I was in Nottingham, England, and I was in December
of twenty sixteen, and I was looking at a month
away from my wife and my kids after a long
(39:50):
tour of the States, and I just I I started
to just kind of melt down a little bit. I'm
in my hotel room and and my go to, uh
when if I'm you know, uh, angry, confused, lonely, whatever
it is, my go to is to write. And I
(40:11):
just write down whatever it is that's that's troubling me,
or that's inspiring me, whatever. And I find that getting
it on the paper or on the iPad, as the
case may be, is a great relief. It allows me
to to unload. So I did that this night, and
then I thought, well, I'm you know, we have a
(40:31):
month in England. I'm going to journal and share with
the fans my my my trip through through England. And
then the next thing I knew, I was writing writing
a memoir, writing my life story. And but here's the problem, Delilah,
is I enjoy writing so much. Uh if you're working
(40:53):
on a book, a five hour plane ride goes by
in a in a second, and so I'm having so
much fun doing it that I can't seem to finish it.
I'm I'm enjoying the process a little too much. So
uh So there's no rush, but i'd like to I'd
like to get it out sometime soon because.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
Sometimes good for you. Well, I am looking forward to
the book too, then the new album, Pat to seeing
you guys perform, and just thank you for being here
with us, thank you for all the great music you've
given me to share with our listeners over the years.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
Well, thank you, Delilah. I have a feeling that this
summer tour, we call it the Summer road trip tour,
it's a it's a pretty unique idea. I think, you know,
most of the tours that we end up going on
are with our contemporaries, you know. We we do a
lot of touring with Sticks and Chicago and def Lepper,
different bands like that. And when the when when the
(41:50):
idea of.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Of a youngster, a youngster like Pat.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
Exactly when that when? When when that idea was came
across my desk or whatever you want? I was like, wow,
I love training. You know, Pat and I had met
a few times doing charity events and and uh got
a good vibe from him. And of course as a singer,
this could be, this could be really cool. And I
think what's gonna happen that a lot of the Ario
(42:16):
Speedwagon fans are gonna hear Train and they're they're gonna
be sitting there. Because this happens to me at concerts
all the time. I'll go, oh that one, Oh they
did that one. And I think that the Train fans
are who listen to us are gonna be the same way,
whether you know. And so it's gonna be. I think
it's gonna be. I'm really looking forward to. I think
it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
It's gonna be a lot of fun, a lot.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
Of good songs and a lot of a lot of
good vibes in the bands, and uh, yeah, it's gonna
be fun. Yep.
Speaker 3 (42:46):
I agree. And thank you Delilah for all the years
of supporting both bands and uh making it so that
we can go do a concert like this, or I
mean a tour like this and without people like you,
or we're just sitting around writing songs for our friends
and family.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Well, keep writing, keep singing, keep recording. If either one
of you feels inspired to write one in a three
note range that requires no talent whatsoever, I am there
with you, Okay, that.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
Is my strong suit, all your writers, people with no talent.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
I am love you guys. Thank you, Hello, John, thank
you Bye.
Speaker 3 (43:28):
Bye here guys.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
What a great catch up with these two wonderful gentlemen,
two incredible groups that treat their fans of all ages
to a high octane, fun filled experience. I can't wait
to join them with my family and friends as they
cruise through their Summer road trip. The Summer Road Trip
twenty twenty four tour kicks off July eighth in Summrset, Wisconsin,
(43:53):
making stops in Chicago, Toronto, New York, Houston, San Francisco,
Last Angela's, Portland, and Seattle before wrapping up on September
eleventh and Phoenix. Tickets and information can be found at
both save Me San Francisco dot com and Riospeedwagon dot com.
Find Train's latest fun summer song, Long Yellow Dress, and
(44:16):
keep an eye out for their new album live at
Royal Albert Hall, and be on the lookout for Kevin's
new memoir Roll with the Changes My Life Within and
without Ario Speedwagon. It's sure to be a great read,
especially for all of us music lovers. Keep up with
both bands at their official websites on Instagram, Facebook, x,
(44:39):
and TikTok. Summer I Love you, So thank you, Summer
for the Sunshine. The long days, the warmth, the birds,
the berries, the fresh veggies. Thank you for sprinklers, for
the sound of my children's laughter, for road trips, and
of course for music. I hope you all get out
there and enjoy each and an every summer day and
(45:01):
all the gifts that summer delivers. If it's been a
while since you've been to a summer concert, catch a
few this year. There's really nothing quite like it. Train
an Reo Speedwagon Summer road Trip twenty twenty four will
be a great way to dip your toes back into
the touring water. Is so many great hits and you
(45:22):
can sing along. Do me a favor, take some time
out of your summer schedule to slow down and love
someone