Jason Aldean Releases New Album After ‘Small Town’ Strikes a Chord

Jason Aldean performs onstage during the 58th Academy Of Country Music Awards at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on May 11, 2023. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

While Country star Jason Aldean readies to release his 11th album today, the crooner recently opened up about why his controversial hit song “Try That In a Small Town” resonated so strongly with listeners.

It was back in July that some social media users, including country music fans, called for a boycott of Country Music Television (CMT) after the network pulled the singer’s song and its video. Some critics claimed it was a “pro-lynching” song, criticizing the footage that included a Tennessee courthouse where a black teenager was lynched about 100 years ago. Other media outlets were critical of the song’s pro-gun lyrics.

Subsequently, the single, which portrays leftist violence and lawlessness including real-life scenes of rioters around the country wreaking havoc in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May of 2020, skyrocketed to iTunes top spot. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard chart in July.

Song Tells of Americans Tired of Unsafe Communities

“It’s just we’re kind of living in the Wild West right now, and I think people are just kind of tired of it,” Aldean said in an interview with Fox News this week. “There’s just constant chaos and something going on. Somebody is always pissed off about something, and it’s just one of those songs where there’s a lot of people that could relate to that because they’re just sick of it.”

He continued, “I just think there’s a lot of people out there that just want to go to work and come home, raise their kids, feel comfortable about sending their kids to school and knowing that they’re going to come home. Or let their kids go to a movie on a weekend and not worry about something crazy happening to them in the parking lot or inside a movie theater.”

‘Small Town’ Represents Neighbors Helping Neighbors

For Aldean, “Try That In A Small Town” refers to the feeling of a community that he had growing up, where neighbors took care of neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.

“My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night,” said Aldean. “But the desire for it to—that’s what this song is about.”

The singer also explained that country music is for the “everyman” and that’s why “Try That In a Small Town” was received so well by his fan base. While the single was originally released last May, it wasn’t until July when the video aired that the controversy started. After contention developed over the video, it was reported by multiple outlets including The Hollywood Reporter and The Guardian that it had been re-edited to remove images of Black Lives Matter protests.

Aldean Addresses Controversy

The initial controversy that surrounded the video led Aldean to speak out back in July.

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“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 shared with his nearly 8 million fans across social media. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.”

The country crooner also denied any racist intent in his song, telling CBS that “there is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it.” He also stressed that the accompanying music video features “real news footage” and contains no imagery that could be construed as promoting violence or hatred.

“While I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music—this one goes too far,” he said.

Aldean once again defended the song and its video content.

“There was people of all color doing stuff in the video. That’s what I don’t understand,” he told the news program. “There was white people in there. There was black people. This video did not shine light on one specific group and say, ‘That’s the problem.’ And anybody that saw that in the video, then you weren’t looking hard enough in the video, is all I can tell you.”

Looking Back, Aldean Would Change Venue

Adding to the controversy was the location of the video shoot. It included the front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennesee, the site of a 1927 lynching of a black teenager. Aldean, who is a resident of the county, said he was unaware a lynching took place there.

“But I also don’t go back a hundred years and check on the history of a place before we go shoot it either,” he said. “It’s also the place that I go get my car tags every year. It’s my county that I live in.”

Aldean’s team has pointed out that other productions have filmed outside the courthouse without criticism, with Aldean noting that in the South, one would be hard-pressed to find a small-town courthouse “that hasn’t had some sort of racial issue over the years at some point.”

But he said knowing what he knows now, he probably wouldn’t shoot the video there if he were to do it over.

“I would do it over again, every time ... minus the setting, knowing what I know now, obviously, you know, knowing that that was gonna be a thing, you know, maybe you look at doing it somewhere else,” he said. ”I know what the intentions were behind the location, the video, the song, all of it. And, you know, and I stand by all that.”

New Album Is a Departure

“Try That In A Small Town” is featured on Aldean’s 11th album, “Highway Desperado,” which is set to be released today. He said that he “hit a different lane” when it comes to this album.

“It’s just trying to reinvent yourself a little bit and I think we kind of did that a little bit with this album,” Aldean told Fox News. “I think for people that are fans of the music, it’s going to feel familiar, but it’s a little bit different. It’s kind of in a little bit of a new direction, I feel like for us, but nothing crazy, just a little bit. So, I’m excited for people to check it out.”