The Casket Lottery is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

signed to Second Nature Recordings and

Big Scary Monsters Big Scary Monsters Recording Company (often known simply as Big Scary Monsters or BSM Records) is an independent record label based in Oxford, England. Its releases include American Football, Lambrini Girls, La Dispute, Modern Baseball, La ...

History

1997

The band started in 1997 after Nathan Ellis spent time on the road with Coalesce. He and Stacy Hilt struck up an instant friendship and love for music beyond the hardcore and metal roots of Coalesce. After leaving Coalesce in the fall of 1997, Ellis assumed bass duties, filling the hole left by Stacy's departure. A chance meeting at a local benefit show reunited Nathan and Stacy once again, at which time he presented Stacy with the basement tracks that would end up on the Diver cassette and Dot, Dot. They found a perfect complement to their musical background in a then 15-year-old drumming phenom Nathan (Jr.) Richardson. The band has toured across the United States numerous times (with Reflector, Small Brown Bike,

Rocky Votolato Rocky Votolato (born March 8, 1977, in Dallas, Texas, United States) is an American indie and folk singer-songwriter. He was also a member of the rock group Waxwing. in 2025, he started a new band called Suzzallo with bandmate Rudy Gajadhar on d ...

, Proudentall, and

Limbeck Limbeck is an American rock band that formed in Southern California, in 1999. The group featured Robb MacLean on lead vocals and guitar, Patrick Carrie guitar and backing vocals, Justin Entsminger on bass, and Jon Phillip, who replaced Matthew S ...

among others), and has released a healthy number of records.

2006–present

In mid-2006, the band went on hiatus. Singer Nathan Ellis works on a record and plays shows with his new bands Jackie Carol and Able Baker Fox, and drummer Nathan "Junior" Richardson joined

Appleseed Cast The Appleseed Cast is an American rock band from Lawrence, Kansas. The band was founded in the early days of emo by singer-guitarist Christopher Crisci and drummer Louie Ruiz. The Appleseed Cast has steadily evolved over the release of eight fu ...

, completing several tours as well as recording on their album "Peregrine." He has subsequently quit The Appleseed Cast. Both Nathans are members of the reformed Coalesce. In 2010 the band re-united as special guest at Coalesce show in their hometown. They also reformed in early 2011 to play shows with recently re-united friends in Small Brown Bike. In late August 2011 they announced via their Facebook page that they were to enter the studio with

Ed Rose Ed Rose is an American sound engineer and record producer. He has worked extensively with groups in the modern emo and pop punk scenes. He also co-owns Black Lodge Recording with Rob Pope and his brother Ryan Pope, members of the emo band The ...

to record a new album. On August 30, 2011, The Casket Lottery announced that they were recording new material with Ed Rose at Black Lodge, which was followed by an announcement on January 9, 2012, that the new material will be released via No Sleep Records in the Spring and Summer of 2012. In 2017

Run for Cover Records Run for Cover Records is an American independent record label based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2004 by Jeff Casazza at the age of 17 with a $1,000 loan, the label functioned as a small one-person bedroom operation in Brighton, until Casa ...

approached the band about re-releasing their first three LP's on vinyl. Nathan Ellis and Stacy Hilt were instantly interested, but Nathan Richardson was busy pursuing a career in the medical field. Ellis and Hilt with Richardson's blessing approached longtime friend Jason Trabue (

Hopesfall Hopesfall is an American post-hardcore band from Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, formed in 1998. They are currently signed to Equal Vision Records. The band dissolved in 2008 after all members, with the exception of singer ...

) to fill the seat left by Richardson's departure. The band practiced throughout 2017 to prepare for their first US tours since 2004. In January 2020 the band started recording their 5th full length album at B-24 Studios in Kansas City, MO with Producer Ed Rose and Engineer Josh Barber. The album is scheduled to be released in late summer / early fall of 2020. In April 2, 2025 the band signed to

Iodine Recordings Iodine Recordings is an independent record label based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Iodine Recordings releases punk music, punk, hardcore punk, hardcore, and indie rock music. It was once home to bands such as Brand New (band), Brand N ...

. On May 29, they announced their sixth studio album, Feel The Teeth.

Members

*Nathan Ellis (guitar, vocals) *Gene Abramov (bass) *Jeff Gensterblum (drums) * Terrence Vitali (guitar, vocals)

Past members

* Stacy Hilt * Nathan Richardson * Brent Windler * Nick Siegel * Jason Trabue

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Choose Bronze'' – 1999 on Second Nature Recordings *'' Moving Mountains'' – 2000 on Second Nature Recordings *'' Survival Is For Cowards'' – 2002 on Second Nature Recordings *'' Real Fear'' – 2012 on

No Sleep Records No Sleep Records was an American independent record label in Huntington Beach, California. They were founded by Chris Hansen in 2006 and have released records by artists including Balance and Composure, La Dispute, and The Wonder Years. They hav ...

*''Short Songs For End Times'' - 2020 on Wiretap Records, Second Nature Recordings and Big Scary Monsters (EU/UK) *''Feel The Teeth -'' 2025 on

EPs and split records

*''The Diver: Cassette Demo'' – 1998 *''Dot Dot Dash Something or Other Dot'' EP – 1999 on Status Records *''The Casket Lottery/Reflector Split'' – 1999 on Undecided Records *''The Casket Lottery/

Waxwing The waxwings are three species of passerine birds classified in the genus ''Bombycilla''. They are pinkish-brown and pale grey with distinctive smooth plumage in which many body feathers are not individually visible, a black and white eyestripe, ...

Split'' – 2000 on Second Nature Recordings *''Lost at Sea'' 7" – 2000 on Status Records *''Blessed/Cursed'' EP – 2000 on Second Nature Recordings *''The Casket Lottery/ Small Brown Bike Split'' – 2002 on Second Nature Recordings *''The Casket Lottery/

Hot Water Music Hot Water Music is an American punk rock band formed in October 1994 and based in Gainesville, Florida. Since their formation, the group has consisted of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard on shared lead vocals and guitars, bass guitarist Jason B ...

Split'' – 2002 on Second Nature Recordings *''Smoke and Mirrors'' EP – 2004 on Second Nature Recordings *''The Door'' 7" – 2012 on

*'' Touché Amoré / The Casket Lottery'' – 2012 on

Compilations

*'' Possiblies and Maybes'' – 2003 on Second Nature Recordings

External links

The Casket Lottery FacebookSecond Nature RecordingsNathan Ellis' new project, Jackie CarolNathan "Junior" Richardson's new band, The Appleseed Cast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casket Lottery, The Indie rock musical groups from Missouri Musical groups from Kansas City, Missouri Undecided Records artists No Sleep Records artists