Lawrence.com

For five years or so, The Casket Lottery were the hardest working band in Kansas City. The mathy emo rockers toured relentlessly, put out a bunch of CDs and gained a rep as one of the tightest bands in the area. Though they "broke up" a couple years back, the band occasionally regroups to play shows (drummer Nathan Richardson is now a full-time member of the Appleseed Cast and singer Nathan Ellis has a new project called Jackie Carol). In the Pines is one of the most best new bands of out Kansas City with a six-piece band that includes viola and violin, two lead singers and lovely harmonies. Though old-timey subject matter (poverty, trains, the mountains, the civil war...) reigns supreme, the band's sound is more akin to the dusky Americana of Crooked Fingers or South San Gabriel.