Listen to Bartels’ Soul-Stirring Major Label Debut HERE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 23, 2025) – Rising singer/songwriter Evan Bartels releases his major label debut EP, To Make You Cry, today via MCA. Bartels showcases his profound storytelling on To Make You Cry, creating an epic, cinematic landscape with little more than an acoustic guitar and vocals. Recorded in his handmade cabin outside of Nashville, this stunning six-song set not only takes notice of those people who are often unseen but also explores the sacrifices and spirituality of a working musician.
American Songwriter calls his music “intense and intimate” as Bartels strives to tell distinctly human stories without judgment. MusicRow says the title track “is a stark, hushed, gripping ballad performed in a trembling, dark baritone that commands attention,” and notes Bartels “recorded [“To Make You Cry”] in his cabin with just acoustic-guitar accompaniment. That and a few echoey production touches are all that’s needed to make you sit up and take notice. A major new voice.”
“I wanted these stories and songs to be very intimate, where it feels like you’re hearing something through a wall, or you’re seeing something through a window, and you perhaps shouldn’t be,” Bartels says. “Also, I wanted it to feel expansive. I wanted it to sound like the West, which is often stark and intensely beautiful in a way that takes your breath away.”
Bartels, who wrote and co-produced the project, also turns the lens on himself, illustrating how he views himself in a changing world, and how his choices have affected his family. He confronts his own mortality in “The Highway.” When referencing the title track, Bartels explains, “to be told not to cry is to be told, ‘Do not live in this moment right now. Do not inconvenience others with your perception of reality.’ As an artist, I want to push back against that.”
Listen to Evan Bartels’ To Make You Cry HERE
To Make You Cry Track Listing
1. Death Of A Good Man (Evan Bartels)
2. Lula (Evan Bartels)
3. Montana (Evan Bartels)
4. The Highway (Evan Bartels)
5. To Make You Cry (Evan Bartels, Bobby Tomberlin, Curt Gibbs)
6. Waves (Evan Bartels, David Ray Stevens)
Produced by Evan Bartels, Rico Csabai, and Dave “Squirrel” Covell
Bartels recently returned from several overseas dates with Charles Wesley Godwin and is now continuing his To Make You Cry 2025 Tour with dates crossing the Midwest and southeast all summer before he heads back to Europe this fall. For the latest news and information, visit www.EvanBartels.com.
