Case Oats—the Chicago-based outfit of Casey Gomez Walker (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Spencer Tweedy (drums), Max Subar (guitar, pedal steel), Scott Daniel (fiddle), and Jason Ashworth (bass)—announce their debut album Last Missouri Exit, out August 22. Accompanying the news is a video for lead single “Bitter Root Lake.” Listen to the track wherever you stream music, and get a free Case Oats pinback button when you pre-order Last Missouri Exit on CD or LP (or the discounted bundle) from the Merge store!

Following previous single “Seventeen,” dubbed a “Song You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone, “Bitter Root Lake” holds the weight of a confessional poem and the ease of a conversation between friends. Casey’s inspiration for this song came from the 1982 true-crime case of a Canadian couple that ran away in a rental plane, crashing into Little Bitterroot Lake in Montana, and the man abandoning his girlfriend. “This story is dark, but I feel like it could happen to anyone in love. The dream gets the best of you, and suddenly you end up in an awful situation. It’s about the aftermath where it all went wrong, and longing for the road in which it went right.” 

This March, Case Oats made their SXSW debut, with NPR Music praising their “captivating” sets: “Walker’s creative writing background was on full display with her deft lyricism.” Today, they announce a number of album release shows in New York, Toronto, and Chicago taking place this summer. Additionally, the band will play two festivals: Out of Space in Evanston and Americana Music Festival. A full list of dates is available below.

Case Oats on tour:
Jul 24–27 Evanston, IL – Out of Space
Aug 19 New York, NY – Nightclub 101%
Aug 20 Toronto, ON – The Drake%
Aug 22 Chicago, IL – The Hideout%
Sep 17–25 Nashville, TN – Americana Music Festival

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