Josh Tobias’ “Drinking Alone” Goes Down Easy

“Drinking Alone” might be the most country song yet from Baltimore-based songwriter Josh Tobias. A singable 6/8 ballad about drinking your blues away until the lights come on at the local dive- it doesn’t get more country than that.

Verse one sets the scene of the narrator alone in a bar where everyone's a stranger, pining after the woman he loves who won’t take his calls. The pre-chorus tells the listeners this isn’t the first evening spent this way, “another night drifting away.”

Tobias’ chorus is as catchy and direct as any drinking song Merle Haggard or Waylon Jennings ever sang. The narrator sings about time slipping away, living in regret, and feeling abandoned by everyone but the devil. Stuck in this loop, the narrator keeps fighting a losing battle against his own demons, swearing yet again “that the last time was the last time I’m drinking alone.”

Verse two is full of powerful imagery, from the barstool that feels like quicksand to the bottle on the shelf that’s calling the narrator's name. The verse adds gravity to the song's subject matter, it’s not just the heartbreak, but the draw of the alcohol that has the narrator stuck, “drinking alone.”

Tobias’s lyrics are uncomplicated but compelling. He paints a vivid picture of the characters, the setting, and the narrator’s emotional experience. While the subject matter of heartbreak, isolation, and substance abuse are dark, the catchy tune, witty lyrics, and classic, genre-specific allusions make it all go down easy.

“Drinking Alone” strikes a remarkable balance between paying homage to 90s era country, thick with pedal steel, while still sounding modern, especially through the reverb heavy, airy harmony vocals starting in the second verse. Tobias himself has a nimble and expressive voice that moves effortlessly over an octave and half of his range in the performance of the song, like a country-fied Ed Sheeran. The instrumentation is lush and textured, with thick reverbs and tasteful tremolos that allude to the experience of inebriation. This moving track will appeal to fans of classic and modern Country as well as audiences who haven’t yet discovered the joys of Country music yet.

“Drinking Alone” was released on April 18th, 2025.