Nathan Ellis

The Casket Lottery

Q&A: The Casket Lottery’s unsung reunion yields louder, denser indie-rock gem

The Casket Lottery: Real FearThe Casket Lottery: Real Fear (No Sleep, 11/6/12)

“In the Branches”

The Casket Lottery: “In the Branches”

Following a four-year hiatus from 2006–2010, Kansas City’s The Casket Lottery was reanimated by front-man Nathan Ellis and expanded from its power-trio core to a quintet. The two new members gave the melodic post-hardcore band an even greater musical arsenal, as shown on Real Fear — its first studio LP in 10 years — which continues its legacy as one of the most underrated groups in “indie music.”

ALARM's 50 Favorite Songs of 2012

ALARM’s 50 (+5) Favorite Songs of 2012

Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.

The Casket Lottery

Review: The Casket Lottery’s Real Fear

The Casket Lottery: Real FearThe Casket Lottery: Real Fear (No Sleep, 11/6/12)

“In the Branches”

The Casket Lottery: “In the Branches”

After a five-year run as a full-time band from 1998 to 2003, Kansas City indie-rock trio The Casket Lottery was able to look back on three standout full-lengths and a handful of EPs. Come 2006, the perpetually underrated band had adopted the same attitude as fellow Kansas City notable Coalesce — which shares The Casket Lottery’s Nathan Ellis and Nathan Richardson — by lying low and working on other projects, but never officially breaking up. Flash forward to 2012 and The Casket Lottery has magically reappeared with two more members — Brent Windler on second guitar and Nick Siegel on keys — and a new full-length album, Real Fear.

The Casket Lottery

Review: The Casket Lottery’s The Door EP / Nathan Ellis’s self-titled EP

The Casket Lottery / Nathan Ellis: The Door / Nathan Ellis (No Sleep, 8/7/12)

“The Door” (The Casket Lottery) & “Balance Beam” (Nathan Ellis)

The Casket Lottery: “The Door”

Nathan Ellis: “Balance Beam”

As a name, Nathan Ellis is unassuming, also held by the random college professor, fire chief, and publicist. As a musician, Nathan Ellis might still be unassuming, unwilling to play up his accomplishments, but his list is no joke: The Casket Lottery, Coalesce, Able Baker Fox, Jackie Carol, and now solo singer-songwriter material.

Interview with Able Baker Fox

Following eight months of online riff-swapping, the scattered Midwesterners of Able Baker Fox rehearsed only once before recording their upcoming debut, Voices, in less than a week at the studio of engineer/producer Ed Rose (Coalesce, The Get Up Kids, Reggie and the Full Effect). Merging old tour buddies and collaborators from melodic post-hardcore groups Small Brown Bike and The Casket Lottery, its members say a combination of history and distance made the record “effortless.”