Nickelback's road to success reads like a dream.

Even the Canadian rock band's name is derivative of its humble beginnings. Bassist Mike Kroeger used to work as a Starbucks cashier. Coffee was $1.45, and he would often give customers a nickel change back.

With "How You Remind Me," it has become the first Canadian band since the Guess Who to have a No. 1 single in the United States and at home at the same time.

Nickelback has gone from touring in one bus and one trailer to using four buses, four semi-trailers and a crew of 30.

"The statistics are too mind-boggling. I don't get it, and I don't want to," said guitarist Ryan Peake on the phone from Albuquerque, the first stop of a tour that brings the band to Pier 6 Wednesday night.

Growing up in Hanna, Alberta, Peake, Kroeger and Kroeger's brother Chad formed a cover band that had a small following in western Canada. But the boys soon grew tired of playing other people's music.

Now at concerts, Peake said, he sees everyone from 9- and 10-year-olds to 50-year-old construction workers.

"If you like the album, come see the show," Peake, 29, said. "We are definitely a live band first and foremost. We hope that when people walk away from the show, they will think the show sounded better than the CD."

Peake said the band, with a sound reminiscent of Creed and Staind, plays rock, not alternative, or alternative of alternative or any other label people stick on the music.

"We're not out there to necessarily be role models," he said. "We're a rock band, so be prepared. We make music that you can sing along and hum to. But also expect us to swear and drink on stage."

Asked about "How You Remind Me," Peake said that one day Chad Kroeger came over with the skeleton of the song, and as soon as he heard it, Peake knew they had something. In 10 minutes, he said, they had pieced it together.

The band would love to keep making hit singles, Peake said, but doesn't want to become a "slave to radio hits."

In their off time, the members of Nickelback like to play golf and to watch other bands. Though Peake's own roots are in country music (he loves bluegrass), he listens to P.O.D., Incubus, Bob Marley, Pantera and basically "any music that sucks you in."

His love for music began when he watched his father play bass in a country band. He then shared his brother's guitar. He now has about eight guitars of his own.

Guitar has become "an addiction," he said, "a horrible addiction. Some days you want to smash it. And other days it makes you feel so good."

Nickelback

What: Concert with Jerry Cantrell, Epidemic and Jibe

Where: Pier 6 Concert Pavilion

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Admission: $28.50

Tickets: 410-481-7328 or www.concerthotline.com