Greenwheel was a one-hit-wonder. I was surprised several years ago when I walked into the local JCPenney's department store and heard their hit "Breathe" covered by Melissa Etheridge playing over the speakers. They didn't last long, but they're still one of those groups I wish I had seen live in concert before they called it quits.
The group was formed by St. Charles Missouri high schoolers Doug Randall (drummer), bassist Brandon Armstrong, Ryan Jordan (guitarist/vocalist), and guitarists Andrew Dwiggins and Marc Wanniger. They went by Hindsight and Soma Holiday before settling on Greenwheel.
Greenwheel soon signed a deal with Island Records and released their only full-length album, Soma Holiday, in 2002. The Hello and Bridges for Burning EPs were issued in 2000 and 2006, respectively. Their song "Shelter" was included in the soundtrack for the first Spider-Man movie.
The band toured with Rubyhorse, Default, Our Lady Peace, Hoobastank, Injected, and other contemporaries in 2001 and 2002 to support their recordings. Greenwheel ended their association with Island in 2004, not long after recording new music. The terms of their separation forbade them from releasing those songs on another label, but they were able to distribute them to their fans on their website and burn copies of those tracks which were made available at their concerts for no charge.
Wanniger and Randall left the group in 2005, and Drew Bailey soon took over behind the kit. A new band named Go Van Gogh subsisting of all of Greenwheel's members surfaced in 2007. They released an album entitled Ruby and the Starlight Ballroom that year and even performed with Greenwheel the following year. However, nothing has been heard from Greenwheel for more than a decade.
I had a copy of their Soma Holiday album somewhere, but I haven't seen it in years. I assumed that I lost or misplaced it, so I'll have to get another copy sometime. They were a unique group that we probably won't see again anytime soon.
Well, that's all for now. Next, I'll start a small series on former supergroups. I'll kick that micro series off with Audioslave. Until then, have a great week, everyone.
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