Evan Bartels
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Genre
Pop
Evan Bartels creates an epic, cinematic landscape with little more than an acoustic guitar and vocals on his new EP, To Make You Cry. Recorded in his handmade cabin just outside of Nashville, the 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.
Raised in the tiny town of Tobias, Nebraska, Bartels started writing songs, playing guitar, and performing at 13 years old. To encourage the musical talent of his two sons, Bartels’ father built a backyard wooden shack, which they nicknamed Coop Studio. With the full support of his parents, Bartels diverged from the standard path of a small-town Midwestern kid and started playing gigs wherever he could. In 2017, as he and his wife were expecting their first child, Bartels embarked on a five-month tour, trying to establish relationships with listening rooms and other small venues.
A few weeks in, he pulled up to his gig in Nashville only to find it had been canceled. Exasperated and hurt, he sought refuge in a smoky bar, where he chatted up a stranger. Their conversation led him to write “Death of a Good Man,” the opening track on To Make You Cry. The character in that song is not so different from the woman in “Montana,” whose life is lived in the lonely shadow of an alcoholic husband and the dead son she discovered in his bedroom. She manages to get through the day with the knowledge that she could get to the state line of Montana by morning if she ever chose to.
The initial sessions for To Make You Cry were recorded in Bartels’ cabin without a metronome, pitch correction software, or punching in. With little more than rented microphones, red wine, and dim lighting, these six songs came to life in their own time. Bartels teamed with his manager Rico Csabai and audio engineer Dave “Squirrel” Covell to capture the performances live, with only acoustic guitar and vocal. The sparse surroundings provided an ideal landscape for Bartels’ expressive baritone. Whenever they felt they’d gotten the take they needed, they moved on to the next song without pausing for playback. Two days later, they revisited the performances, then enhanced them with guest musicians Paul DeFiglia on bass and Russ Pahl on pedal steel. “Once we had it all, we just took away everything that didn’t need to be there,” Bartels says.
Bartles says he hopes for recognition with To Make You Cry, but not for himself. Instead, he wants listeners to hear the EP and take a different view of the changing world around them.
“I’m interested in putting myself in situations where I’m going to notice things – where I have to notice things,” he says. “Even if you’re just observing, that’s as much redemption as you’re going to get out of some of these stories, because the reality of life is sometimes things just aren’t good. That doesn’t mean the story doesn’t need to be told or shared, or that somebody failed, or that it was something bad. Sometimes it just is what it is. Often there is no resolution. I think that’s a compelling way to tell a story.”
Raised in the tiny town of Tobias, Nebraska, Bartels started writing songs, playing guitar, and performing at 13 years old. To encourage the musical talent of his two sons, Bartels’ father built a backyard wooden shack, which they nicknamed Coop Studio. With the full support of his parents, Bartels diverged from the standard path of a small-town Midwestern kid and started playing gigs wherever he could. In 2017, as he and his wife were expecting their first child, Bartels embarked on a five-month tour, trying to establish relationships with listening rooms and other small venues.
A few weeks in, he pulled up to his gig in Nashville only to find it had been canceled. Exasperated and hurt, he sought refuge in a smoky bar, where he chatted up a stranger. Their conversation led him to write “Death of a Good Man,” the opening track on To Make You Cry. The character in that song is not so different from the woman in “Montana,” whose life is lived in the lonely shadow of an alcoholic husband and the dead son she discovered in his bedroom. She manages to get through the day with the knowledge that she could get to the state line of Montana by morning if she ever chose to.
The initial sessions for To Make You Cry were recorded in Bartels’ cabin without a metronome, pitch correction software, or punching in. With little more than rented microphones, red wine, and dim lighting, these six songs came to life in their own time. Bartels teamed with his manager Rico Csabai and audio engineer Dave “Squirrel” Covell to capture the performances live, with only acoustic guitar and vocal. The sparse surroundings provided an ideal landscape for Bartels’ expressive baritone. Whenever they felt they’d gotten the take they needed, they moved on to the next song without pausing for playback. Two days later, they revisited the performances, then enhanced them with guest musicians Paul DeFiglia on bass and Russ Pahl on pedal steel. “Once we had it all, we just took away everything that didn’t need to be there,” Bartels says.
Bartles says he hopes for recognition with To Make You Cry, but not for himself. Instead, he wants listeners to hear the EP and take a different view of the changing world around them.
“I’m interested in putting myself in situations where I’m going to notice things – where I have to notice things,” he says. “Even if you’re just observing, that’s as much redemption as you’re going to get out of some of these stories, because the reality of life is sometimes things just aren’t good. That doesn’t mean the story doesn’t need to be told or shared, or that somebody failed, or that it was something bad. Sometimes it just is what it is. Often there is no resolution. I think that’s a compelling way to tell a story.”