19 Wheels

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19 Wheels was an alternative rock band from East Lansing, Michigan, active from 1990 to 2005. The group started with Chris Johnston (vocals and guitar), Scott Owens (guitar), and Tim Marzorati (bass); drummer Rob Dickey joined in 2000. They began as Hannibals before changing their name to Nineteen Wheels, then shortened to 19 Wheels.

They first drew attention with their 1996 EP The Tempermill Recordings, which helped them tour on the ESPN Extreme Games Tour that year. They signed with Aware Records for the 1997 release Six Ways from Sunday. Aware later joined with Columbia, and Six Ways from Sunday was reissued in October 1997 in an amended version with an extra track and a red cover (the original had a blue cover). AllMusic praised the band for its muscular, tight sound, helped by strong bass and drum work.

Sugareen was self-released and produced by Donny Brown of Verve Pipe; it sold over 14,000 copies. The band followed with the Jawbreaker EP in 2004, produced by Bob Ezrin. While working with Ezrin, the members began to question whether they would continue together, as many had wives and steady jobs and lived in different parts of Michigan. Owens and Marzorati stayed near Lansing, Johnston moved to Ferndale, and Dickey lived in Grand Rapids. In late 2005 they decided to break up, releasing one final EP and playing their last show on November 25, 2005 at The Intersection in Grand Rapids. Their song “Reactor” was later featured on Ford’s website for the 2010 Ford Fusion.