When Roman Alexander first heard his just-released single, “Tying One On,” he wasn’t expecting to be recording new music any time soon. However, he was convinced to give this song a chance and it ended up being the perfect track to introduce his next musical chapter.
The track came to him in a text from his manager, Melanie Wetherbee, after earning approval from several other members on his team. “I think my team had heard it a lot before. It was circulated between three or four people. My team’s relatively small, I make it sound like it’s an army, that heard it first. But I heard it via text and I was in the car,” he recalled.
At first, he remembered brushing it off thinking he wasn’t in the space to be cutting anything else for his next project. “I was like, ‘yeah, that’s good.’ And then I didn’t really listen to it again for a few more days… I didn’t really think we were going to be recording any new music for a while. So my headspace was like, we’re already done recording,” he admitted to Country Now.
However, after giving the track another listen, he finally understood what everyone had been hearing all along.
“I listened again and I was like, ‘okay, this is great.’”
Roman Alexander is no stranger to cutting outside songs, in fact, he welcomes any opportunity to expand his catalog with the best songs out there. That was the case with “Tying One On,” which was penned by Jessi Alexander, John Morgan and Will Bundy.
“I’ve kind of leaned on that in the past, even with my first project back in 2020. Nashville’s a town with so many great songs floating around, some that never get heard. So why not give that a chance and give the songs a chance to be heard?,” he pointed out.
The Meaning Behind The Story
The tune showcases Roman Alexander’s smooth vocals on a hook that sticks amid a moody melody, highlighting the sting of heartbreak. He tries to find comfort from his place on the barstool, throwing back “the hard stuff” after making every other attempt to get over the woman for good. While his mind is clearly flooded with thoughts, he manages to turn a night of drinking into a quiet moment of reflection.
“So pour ’em tall and strong/ I got nothin’ left to lose/ I’m working on gettin’ her gone/ Knockin’ back that straight 80 proof/ I tried everything for the hurting/ But that moving on ain’t working/ So tonight I’m tying one on/ To cut her loose,” he delivers on the gritty and raw honest chorus.
There’s a familiar ache running through “Tying One On,” one that fits perfectly into Alexander’s catalog of signature love and heartbreak tunes. Even though the lyrics center around drinking to cope with heartache, Alexander admits he has since stepped away from that lifestyle.
“I recorded in time when I was still drinking. I don’t drink anymore, but I don’t disassociate myself to drinking songs. I’m not oblivious to it. So that’s just a personal choice of mine,” he noted.
Watch The Official Music Video
Still, the visuals for “Tying One On” had to match the song’s theme, which resulted in some humorous moments on set of the music video, like when he opted to use apple juice in place of whiskey. He reveals that the video was shot in one take as they were limited on time, but luckily, he pulled it off with ease.
Alexander is seen walking out of a house with his rageful ex yelling in the background and throwing his clothes all over the lawn. He eventually strolls up to a lemonade stand turned whiskey bar at the end of the driveway, offering free pours to anyone willing to join him in numbing the heartache.
“I love acting. I’ve never done much of it, but that’s the one thing I think long-term in my career I really want to get into is to be multifaceted and branch off and get into acting,” he revealed. “So any chance I can to film video or try to do that kind of stuff, I take every opportunity.”
Navigating Major Career Changes
The shift in mindset he experienced with “Tying One On” didn’t just apply to the song. Roman says this season of life marks a turning point for him after having experiencing some major career changes. He explained that 2020 and 2021 turned out to be great years for him despite everything happening in the world at the time. Since most people were spending all their time at home, his music was being consumed at a rapid pace, which then allowed him to tour shortly after.
After that, things took a turn. Reflecting on a particularly difficult chapter in his career, Roman opened up about the series of setbacks that nearly derailed his momentum. This included sveral changes within his team and a potential record deal with a major label that went south.
“This is probably the most upfront I’ll be about any interview I’ve done recently,” he admitted. “Twelve6 has stood by me, my label, they’ve not left. They’ve stood by me. I’m so thankful for them, but I had a manager jump ship, I had a booking agent jump ship, I had a business manager jump ship. It all happened in the same week. It started feeling like the world was starting to collapse a little bit.”
Ready To Finally Get New Music Out To His Fans
During the period of negotiation that lasted about eight months, Alexander wasn’t able to record or release music, so when that opportunity came to an end, he got right back to work, eager to get new music to the fans who had waited long enough.
“I really hate that I’ve let people wait this long. I mean, music consumption happens so fast these days that if you tease a song on a Monday and it’s not out by that Friday, it’s an old song to them or it’s just irrelevant in most cases. And so you really have to work hard to keep it alive…So I think people are just excited to get something new.”
Now, with a fresh perspective and a new song in motion, Alexander is finally stepping into his next musical era in full force. He plans to ease into this chapter starting with “Tying One On,” which will then be followed by a few more individual releases before dropping a new EP in August.
What His Next EP Will Entail
While he says this new music is not a complete “reinvention” of himself, he is going to tape into his “older and more mature” mindset and will eventually start to move away from his string of breakup themed tunes.
“As weird as this sounds, I feel like I’m kind of a man for the first time in my music career. It’s like I stopped seeing it about chasing girls so much. I feel like my phases are always a couple years behind because you’re always trying to…it’s like the fans are seeing you two years before and they’re not always seeing you in that current moment. So I think right now we’re going to start moving out of the breakup phase eventually, and then hopefully this next chapter is not all love, but just something that just feels a little bit more open and free,” he shared. “I think we’re getting there with this.”
Hailing from a family of trailblazers, Roman Alexander has always embraced the drive to chase his ambitions—and that same determination is fueling his journey in music today. Fans will have the chance to get a deeper look into his personal life with his next song release. This tune will allow him to share his personal story like never before, proving that there was no plan B when it came to his career, music was always the end goal.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve had my head kicked in the dirt a few times, but each time I get back up I keep doing my thing and I keep just trying to make better music and I’m really loyal to the people around me,” he said, proudly. “And I think I can sometimes be misunderstood for that because of my branding can kind of come across mysterious or I don’t know what people conceptualize, but I know for me I’m incredibly loyal, loving, I care about music, but I also keep my circle small.”
He continued, “I think that shows in that song and trying to help paint a picture of who I am and hopefully that evolves. I’m kind of a free spirited dude at the same time…I have a little bit of addiction and adrenaline. I think I always kind of live life on the edge a little bit. I play rugby, I race cars…All these little things, life’s too short and not to have fun.”
With this new music, Roman Alexander is also hoping to create a stronger demand for him to embark on a tour sometime this year. He hasn’t found the opportunities to be on the road much over the past few years, however, he is going to slowly start building that back up in 2025. He promised that there will be a few chances for fans to catch him on stage, which will hopefully be announced soon.
The post Roman Alexander Talks ‘Tying One On’ And Overcoming Setbacks: ‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’ [Exclusive] appeared first on Country Now.
