The band formed in 1996 in Southern California with Crisci and Aaron Pillar joining bassist Jason Wickersheim and drummer Louie Ruiz under the name December's Tragic Drive (derived from lyrics of the song "Seven" by Sunny Day Real Estate).

In 1998, the band – now billed as The Appleseed Cast – signed to Deep Elm Records out of New York before relocating to North Carolina, and released its debut album, The End of the Ring Wars.

Pillar said of the band's formative influences, "Early on, I think we were into Braid, Rainer Maria and Broken Hearts Are Blue, but I grew up on Depeche Mode and OMD, and I think [Crisci] was more of a Cure kid."

In January 2000, Pillar asked his roommate, St. Joseph, Missouri-native Marc Young, if he would be interested in playing bass one show for the band.

Eager to fulfill their five-record deal with Deep Elm, the band embarked on a double LP, with Ed Rose once again recording.

The complex vocal arrangements and enigmatic lyrics were buried in the mix underneath simple, repeated guitar riffs, keyboards, found sounds and Baruth's intricate drum patterns.

The Appleseed Cast signed with the New York-based indie label Tiger Style Records in 2003 and released Two Conversations shortly afterward.

Some viewed the album with dismay, regarding the more conventional song structures, the less diverse sonic palette and the personal, relationship-driven lyrics as a blatant retreat after the no-holds-barred experimentation, depth and complexity of Low Level Owl.

[citation needed] However, others saw the album as an assured combination of the driving emo-rock of their early work subtly embellished with elements of Low Level Owl's sound.

Rumors began to surface in the spring of 2004 that drummer Baruth was no longer a part of the group and were confirmed on the band's website later that year.

In the meantime Tiger Style Records faced financial difficulties and dropped their entire roster, including The Appleseed Cast after just one album.

The recording sessions for Peregrine, The Appleseed Cast's sixth full-length album, were held in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, at Pachyderm Studio.

The album is arguably more eclectic than any previous release in the band's catalogue, the Low Level Owl indebted instrumental "An Orange and a Blue" sitting alongside the more conventional, guitar-driven "February" and the stark, electronica of "Mountain Halo."

On the same day, the site announced that The Appleseed Cast would be touring with labelmates Dreamend in spring 2010, "playing their two classic albums, Low Level Owl Volume I and II back-to-back, each in its entirety".

On February 26, 2011, Graveface Records uploaded a video to YouTube containing a sound clip from the demo of the title track for Middle States.