The story of Hot Apple Pie begins with Brady Seals. A member of a highly musical clan that also includes country stars Dan Seals ("Bop"), pop star Jimmy Seals of Seals & Crofts ("Summer Breeze") and celebrated country songwriters Troy Seals ("Seven Spanish Angels") and Chuck Seals ("Crazy Arms"), Brady was on the road as a country musician by age 16. He sent his early songwriting efforts to Uncle Troy in Nashville to have them critiqued. Then he moved to Music City.
During his 1991-95 tenure in Little Texas, Seals blossomed as a writer. He co-wrote the band's hits "My Love" and "What Might Have Been," as well as the Grammy-nominated "Amy's Back in Austin" and "God Blessed Texas." The year before he left the band, Little Texas played 322 days on the road.
Seals released CDs in 1997, 1999 and 2001 but had a hard time escaping the shadow of Little Texas. In 2002, he called guitarist Sparky Matejka and drummer Trey Landry, who had been in his band when he was a solo artist, and they decided to form a new group. Matejka had a degree in jazz and had played for Charley Daniels, the Kinleys and Sons of the Desert. While playing for Wayne Toups, Landry met Rodney Crowell on a cruise, and Crowell introduced him to Seals.
Richard Landis, a producer who had worked with Seals' wife Lisa Stewart, heard the band's new songs and agreed to produce them. They hired versatile musician Keith Horne as a bass player and entered the studio in 2003. The first four songs they recorded ended up on their CD, which will be released by DreamWorks in 2005.
