Evan Bartels will return to the Zoo Bar for the first time in more than a year Friday, playing a 6 p.m. solo show.
Bartels’ performance is a rarity not only because the coronavirus pandemic upended the music business, shutting down nearly all shows, but also because he moved from Nebraska to Nashville, Tennessee, two years ago.
At that time, Bartels was one of the state’s best young songwriters, whose smartly crafted Jason Isbell-meets-Leonard Cohen-meets-Steve Earle songs attracted national attention and made their way onto radio and movies.
Bartels has been writing songs since he was 13 and started a band with friends in his hometown of Tobias. By 17, halfway through his senior year in high school, Bartels had gone pro, playing guitar in the popular local country cover band Cactus Hill.
In 2013, Bartels started an acoustic trio with his brother, Logan, on bass and Jake Brandt on guitar. They called the group The Stoney Lonesomes. With the addition of a drummer and keyboardist, the group went electric, playing shows in Lincoln, then expanding outward.
In 2017, Bartels and the Stoney Lonesomes released the superb “The Devil, God & Me,†a country-rock collection of his songs that received notice from radio programmers around the country and sent the band — and Bartels solo — on the road.
He released the four-song solo EP “Promised Land†that showcased his songwriting and put him back on the road in 2019.
Shortly after releasing “Promised Land,†Bartels, his wife Cryssa and son Cohen moved to Nashville, where he is continuing to pursue his songwriting career, including playing at the Bluebird Cafe, Nashville’s legendary songwriter showcase.
He last returned to Nebraska in November for a show at Buck’s Bar and Grill in Venice, just west of Omaha, where he will play Saturday night with Jason Eady.
Tickets for the Zoo Bar show are $15, available at and at the door. Seating will be limited by directed health measure requirements.
Directed by Frank Marshall, who made “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button†and “Seabiscuit,†the documentary is framed by the memories of Barry Gibb.