Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit songs for such artists as Montgomery Gentry, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, and others.

After Boy Howdy disbanded, Steele embarked on a solo career, recording seven studio albums (one of which was not released).

[3] He first gained his own interest in music at age eight, when he sang Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" at a church function.

By age 17, he was performing with local groups, and playing keyboards at various gigs on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.

[5] In 1990, Steele and three other California musicians – Hugh Wright, along with brothers Cary and Larry Park – formed the band Boy Howdy, in which he served as lead vocalist and bass guitarist.

[6] While in Boy Howdy, Steele was named Best Bassist and Best Male Vocalist by the California Country Music Association.

[4] As the band's primary songwriter, he also earned BMI awards for co-writing their highest-charting singles, "She'd Give Anything" and "They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore".

Among his first hits as a songwriter were "If You Love Somebody" by Kevin Sharp, "Unbelievable" by Diamond Rio, and "Big Deal" by LeAnn Rimes, all three of which earned him additional BMI awards.

33 on the Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, becoming Steele's only Top 40 hit as a solo artist.

Steele also continued to record studio albums even while writing hits for other artists; his albums Gold, Platinum, Chrome and Steele and You Gotta Start Somewhere were both released in 2003, the same year that he was named Songwriter of the Year by both BMI and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI).