Country star Jason Aldean sparks controversy with 'Try That in a Small Town' music video
BOSTON - Country music star Jason Aldean is facing the music over one of his latest songs.
"Try That in a Small Town," drew heavy criticism for its lyrics and music video. The song came out in May, but the music video was released last Friday and drew backlash within hours. Some critics said the lyrics were racist and threatening in nature. One critic called it a "modern lynching song."
The music video featured Aldean in front of a government building with news clips of protests, robberies and looting playing in the background. The lyrics include lines like, "you cross that line, it won't take long for you to find out, I recommend you don't try that in a small town."
Shannon Watts, the founder of the anti-gun group Moms Demand Action said in a tweet, "This song is an ode to a sundown town, suggesting people be beaten or shot for expressing free speech."
Fellow songwriter Sheryl Crow also sounded off against the song and tweeted, "I'm from a small town. Even people in a small town are sick of violence. There's nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know better than anyone having survived a mass shooting."
Aldean was on stage when a gunman opened fired at a Las Vegas music festival in 2017. The mass shooting killed 58 people and injured roughly 500 others.
Bryanna Giorgio, of Methuen, was at that concert and survived the shooting. On the debate over this Aldean song, Giorgio told WBZ, "Honestly, the song doesn't really bother me, to be completely honest. The song came out and I wasn't like 'Oh my God.' It was just another Jason Aldean song. If you weren't there you have no idea what it was like being there. Or what everyone who was there and experienced it actually went through."
For his part, Aldean released a statement on Wednesday that stated, "These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. While I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music - this one goes too far." Aldean continued, "NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart. Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief."
In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.…
— Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) July 18, 2023
Aldean has a summer full of concerts including a stop next weekend at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield.
Giorgio said she planned to attend that show. "If he says he didn't mean it that way then I am sure that's what he means," Giorgio said. "I think people are taking a little bit of this song and running with it, with their own agenda."