Jason Aldean doubles down on ‘Try That in a Small Town’ amid ‘pro-lynching’ backlash
Country crooner Jason Aldean has doubled down on his “Try That in a Small Town” song amid controversy that has branded him a “racist” and “violent bigot.”
Aldean, 46, addressed the backlash Friday between songs at his packed gig in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“It’s been a long week, and I’ve seen a lot of stuff suggesting I’m this, suggesting I’m that,” he said, eliciting boos from the crowd, according to a snippet posted to Twitter. “I feel like everybody’s entitled to their opinions. You can think something all you want to it doesn’t mean it’s true.”
He continued: “What I am is a proud American. I’m proud to be from here. I love our country. I want to see it restored to what it once was before all this bulls—t started happening to us. I love my country, I love my family, and I will do anything to protect that, I can tell you that right now.”
Aldean’s remarks prompted the riled-up audience to begin chanting “USA” as the singer acknowledged “cancel culture” and how it can “try to ruin your life.”
He applauded country music fans for seeing “through the bulls–t.”
The Post has reached out to Aldean’s reps for comment.
“Try That in a Small Town” has been met with vitriol from fans and fellow musicians alike as CMT pulled the music video, which features footage from various protests including Black Lives Matter and Aldean performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee.
The courthouse was the backdrop for the 1946 Columbia Race Riot, which nearly resulted in the lynching of the first Black Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall.
The city also saw the lynching of Henry Choate, 18, in 1927.
The song details acts of violence — sucker-punching pedestrians, carjacking people, pulling a gun on business owners — labeling the so-called “tough” perpetrators as “fools” and daring them to “try that in a small town.”
He condemns them for stomping on the American flag and setting it ablaze, while warning that he is equipped with a firearm gifted from his grandfather.
Variety crowned the track “the most contemptible country song of the decade,” while Sheryl Crow slammed Aldean for “promoting violence,” calling the tune “lame.”
Despite backlash, the song charted at No. 1 on iTunes.
Aldean denied the accusations in an Instagram Story earlier this month.
“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,” Aldean wrote.
“These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”
