A loud Cleveland house. Nine kids. A basement full of drums and harmony guitars. We sit down with Jerry Becker, Train’s multi-instrumentalist and music director to trace a winding creative path—from a rejected teenager who formed his own band to a music store employee who told a stranger in a Steelers hat that his team “sucked,” then sold him a saxophone and changed his life.
Jerry takes us inside the machine of a modern touring act: how set lists are shaped, how transitions breathe, and why almost everyone in the band plays drums. We talk about the lost art of album narratives, the rise of high-quality home recording, and the urgency of finishing a song while the idea is still in the air.
The biggest curveball? A four-year plunge into Broadway. Jerry, Pat Monahan, and drummer Matt have written dozens of songs for a stage adaptation of Begin Again, discovering the thrill and terror of hearing other voices carry their melodies. It’s the hardest writing he’s done—and the most clarifying.
If you care about the craft of live music, the realities of today’s music business, and the courage to say yes before you know how, this conversation will hit home.
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