The Casket Lottery are an indie-rock/midwest emo band from Kansas City, USA. Coalesce's Nathan Ellis (guitar/vocals) and Stacy Hilt (bass) founded the Casket Lottery in the year 1997 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.