A few years ago I was turned on to this man and his music by his brother, who was very gracious in presenting this al;bum to me to share with you. All I ask of you is that if you like what you hear on this website please go buy an album.
The first time I heard this album the very first guitar strums were like a Mexican style thing but it rolled into a very powerful line “On the east side of Nashville I sat and got stoned. With a man who never told me his name”. This song grabbed me by my privates and squeezed….if you cannot listen to this and think of your own grandfather or male hero, you cannot read music.
The line about God giving us the right to choose is what this is all about my friends. We are required to do all things to his glory and as a recovered addict this album helped me out last year. “Lula” is probably the best song on this entire album, and if you miss the story songs and you like stuff like Ian Noe than this is your guy! One of the things that make this album shine is the damn fine musicianship the likes of Russ Pahl on steel guitar, Paul Defiglia on bass, and it was produced by Evan Bartels and Rico Csabai.
From his press release:
“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.”
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.
