Evan Bartels, a singer-songwriter hailing from the small town of Tobias, Nebraska, developed an early passion for music, learning piano during his elementary years and teaching himself guitar around the age of 12. By 14, he had written his first song, ‘Sinners and Saints,' marking the beginning of his journey as a songwriter. Bartels' upbringing in a village of approximately 100 residents instilled in him a deep appreciation for storytelling, a theme that resonates throughout his music.
In 2017, Bartels released his debut album, ‘The Devil, God & Me,' which garnered attention and led to an extensive tour schedule. This was followed by the 2019 EP ‘Promised Land,' further showcasing his evocative storytelling and musical depth. His upcoming project, ‘To Make You Cry,' set for release on May 23, 2025, via Lost Highway Records, was recorded in his handmade cabin outside Nashville. The six-song collection aims to highlight the sacrifices and spirituality of a working musician.
Evan Bartels’ new EP ‘To Make You Cry' is an unflinching and emotionally raw collection of six songs that feel more like short films than simple folk ballads. With sparse instrumentation, evocative lyrics, and his unmistakably weathered baritone, Bartels carves out a stark emotional landscape populated by broken people trying to hold onto whatever pieces of their lives they can. There’s a Springsteen-esque quality to the songwriting—especially his ‘Nebraska' and ‘Ghost of Tom Joad' eras—but filtered through a distinctly Midwestern lens that’s entirely Bartels’ own.
Opening track ‘Death of a Good Man' immediately sets the tone. A confessional ballad carried by acoustic strumming and plaintive electric guitar, it tells the story of a man nearing the end of his life, measured not by grandeur but by quiet loyalty and working-class sacrifice. Bartels’ voice, rough as gravel, gives weight to lines about ageing, tobacco, and regret. As the song builds into a subtle crescendo of organ and vocal intensity before fading back into quiet reflection, it becomes clear that this isn’t just a song—it’s a eulogy.
‘Lula' is one of the most gripping narratives on the EP. Here, Bartels spins a dark tale of a young woman escaping a life of abuse in a meth-stained small town. The murder of her father is presented not with shock but with grim inevitability, and the song’s emotional climax comes when Bartels sings, “She was crying for a life she never had.” His delivery trembles with pain, turning Lula’s story into a symbol of so many unseen, unheard lives left behind in the rural corners of America. It’s folk storytelling at its most brutal and effective.
On ‘Montana,' Bartels continues his focus on hard-lived lives, telling the story of a woman who sells her mother’s ring after her partner gambles away their future. This is one of the EP’s most devastating tracks, as it eventually reveals the suicide of her son. “What’s left when your soul is taken from you?” he asks, not so much singing as pleading. The harmonica outro adds a mournful, windswept quality that lingers long after the final note fades. Bartels has a gift for finding poetry in the pain, and ‘Montana' is a masterclass in restraint and emotional impact.
‘The Highway' leans into a more classic country sound, drawing comparisons to Johnny Cash with its deep, resonant vocal and themes of isolation. Bartels sings of long drives and longer nights, fighting the internal demons that whisper self-loathing and failure. There's an organ-laced gospel feel here that lends the track a sort of desperate spirituality—a prayer from a man who’s lost but still moving. Like so much of the EP, it's about survival, not salvation.
The title track, ‘To Make You Cry,' is perhaps the most vulnerable on the project. With the barest of arrangements, Bartels tries to reassure a partner that despite the pain, he never meant to cause harm. “Just make it to the morning,” he sings, and in that line is the heart of the record: endurance. Life may not get better, but surviving the night is a victory. Closer ‘Waves' finishes the EP with haunting pedal steel and a confession of personal failure. Bartels addresses his mother and his God, asking for strength as darkness washes over him again and again. It’s a heart-wrenching end to a collection that refuses to look away from life’s hardest truths.
‘To Make You Cry' is not an easy listen, but it’s a necessary one. Bartels doesn’t offer false hope or easy resolutions—just the hard-earned beauty that comes from confronting the worst and still choosing to sing. With this EP, he has solidified his place as one of modern Americana’s most compelling emerging storytellers.
Tracklist: 1. Death Of A Good Man 2. Lula 3. Montana 4. The Highway 5. To Make You Cry 6. Waves Record Label: MCA Nashville Release Date: May 23rd Buy ‘To Make You Cry' right here
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