Last Missouri Exit

Description

In 2018, Case Oats was still just a vague idea. When Casey Gomez Walker agrees to play a headlining show in Chicago with a band... she doesn’t yet have, she bluffs — then dives in. This first album, Last Missouri Exit, was born from that slightly crazy but sincere impulse. Surrounded by Spencer Tweedy (drums), Max Subar (guitar, pedal steel), Jason Ashworth (bass), Scott Daniel (violin) and Nolan Chin (keyboards), Gomez Walker delivers a collection of poignant portraits, at once literary and spontaneous, rooted in the landscapes of the Midwest. Her lyrics, shaped by her background in creative writing, blend the personal and the universal with disarming grace. Recorded in a basement in the spirit of Big Pink, over three days in August, the album captures the alchemy of a band formed around these songs. Few means, a lot of heart: the takes are raw, direct, full of life. It’s a record of transition, growth and emancipation, where childhood pains meet the promises of adulthood. “Last Missouri Exit” is the sign announcing the exit from childhood, on the edge of the highway to Chicago. It is also the name of a bittersweet record, a coming-of-age folk album that lingers long after the first listen. Case Oats is only at the beginning, and yet their music already sounds like a refuge.