Kansas City, MO

Coalesce's Nathan Ellis (guitar/vocals) and Stacy Hilt (bass) founded the Casket Lottery in the late '90s and composed a sound around crashing emo-tailored lyrics and heavy guitar work. They picked up drummer Nathan Richardson just in time for tours with Rainer Maria, Small Brown Bike, Sweep the Leg Johnny, and Waxwing. Several EPs and homemade releases were issued prior to the band's proper debut, Choose Bronze, on Second Nature Recordings in 1999. A year later, Moving Mountains was released, showcasing the Casket Lottery's growing sound. A third record, Survival Is for Cowards, coincided a Coalesce reunion in spring 2002. A year later, the band collected a handful of oddities and rarities for the Possibles and Maybes. ~ MacKenzie Wilson