The origins of Train's widescreen, Americana-tinged rock lay in the coffeehouse acoustic duo that singer/songwriter Pat Monahan inaugurated with guitarist Rob Hotchkiss after the two left the L.A. band the Apostles. Eventually they expanded to a full band and released their first album themselves before it was picked up for wider distribution. Though initially a sleeper, it slowly produced a couple of hits, and the 2001 followup DROPS OF JUPITER broke Train through to full-fledged star status with its grandiloquent title track.