This week's episode — and My First Band's milestone 150th episode! — features an enjoyable trip down Memory Lane with Nathan Ellis. Over the last 25 years, the singer/guitarist of The Casket Lottery and bass player of Coalesce has been part of some timeless and all-around outstanding releases, he's toured all over the country, and he's helped to bolster Kansas City's already sterling musical reputation. Though he's done a lot over the last quarter-century, Ellis is still making music and looking forward to more artistic adventures in the years to come.
Earlier this week, Ellis took some time out of demoing some new Casket Lottery material in the studio to chat with My First Band host Tyler Maas. After talking about the band's recent happenings, which included appearances at FEST and Furnace Fest last year in belated support of 2020's wonderful Short Songs For End Times, Ellis told Maas about a show he attended in Lawrence, Kansas, as an eighth grader that helped set his musical journey into motion. Over the course of the conversation, Ellis talked about playing (and winning) his high school battle of the bands with a short-lived group called Matilda, his brief stint in a hardcore outfit that opened for Propagandhi, foregoing college to tour extensively with Coalesce, and some of his favorite moments he's had with The Casket Lottery (so far).
My First Band is sponsored by Mystery Room Mastering and Lakefront Brewery. The show is edited by Jared Blohm. You can listen to My First Band on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and wherever else you get podcasts. You can also listen to rebroadcasts of previous My First Band episodes on WMSE every Wednesday from noon to 12:30 p.m. CST. Music used in this episode comes courtesy of Devils Teeth ("The Junction Street Eight Tigers") and The Casket Lottery ("More Blood").
