You should know that better than anyone, having survived a mass shooting. There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. Even people in small towns are sick of violence. Meanwhile, some other Tennessee residents have stepped up to say the song does not represent the state’s real small-down values, including singer Sheryl Crow, who wrote, “I’m from a small town. Kristi Noem, Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro, commentator Candice Owen and the entire panel of “Fox & Friends.” 7 on Friday.Ĭoming to Aldean’s defense have been figures from the MAGA wing of the the right like presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. chart, streaming was slower to pick up, but it now has - the two-month-old tune was absent from the top 50 as of Thursday, but entered the Spotify chart at No. 1 in an era when paid downloads have all but disappeared. Perhaps fearful of getting the same backlash from Aldean fans that CMT did, ABC chose to keep a performance of “Try That in a Small Town” in the CMA Festival special that aired Wednesday night, drawing its own fire for seeming to stand behind Aldean’s polarizing song.Īldean fans have been quick to purchase the song on iTunes, in a successful effort to push it to the top of the song sales chart, where right-leaning tunes have recently had an easy time reaching the pinnacle, given the low number necessary to reach No. The lyrics (written not by Aldean but Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher and Tully Kennedy) also warn that the government may someday come to confiscate small-towners’ guns, as well as raising the specter of flag-burning, and warns anyone who violates local values, “Round here we take care of our own / See how far ya get down the road.”ĬMT pulled the video from rotation after the controversy began to erupt. (Sources in Aldean’s camp have maintained the production had no knowledge of that history until it was raised after the video was out.) The stock footage in the video includes shots of protesters, some of them taken from Canadian demonstrations, as well as lootings and carjackings, representing the ills of the big city. “Try That in a Small Town” became a national flashpoint this week after the release of a music video that was filmed on location at the site of a famous 1920s lynching. A Tennessee resident who grew up in the deep South, Adeem is well acquainted with small towns - although it’s possible Aldean and Adeem would not want to share the same tiny burg, between Adeem’s progressive politics and identification as non-binary and Aldean’s MAGA support, anti-vax beliefs and statements from the family on trans issues that have pitted them against the LGBTQ+ community. I just read the words and say “That was good“Īdeem the Artist, whose most recent critically acclaimed album is “White Trash Revelry,” recently performed at the Grand Ole Opry and is currently nominated for emerging artist of the year at the Americana Honors & Awards. Now it’s true that I am ignorant on most of thisĪ couple folks for some reason called me a bigotĮven though I didn’t write the shit I’m singin’ about “I don’t agree with the politics of Jason Aldean in any way, but I got a call from a record executive this morning and they said, ‘He’s trending really well, and if we wanna see some higher impressions and retweets and stuff like that, we oughta do a cover of a Jason Aldean song.’ And I thought, well, impressions is what I care about most, so let’s do this.”ĭrivin’ trucks valued higher than a new CorvetteĪnd we all wear boots and we love to shootĪnd we root for the cops to stop people like youīetter never let the sun go down on you, dear brother “I’m gonna level with you here,” kidded the singer. Please share it around & enjoy! I love COUNTRY MUSIC! & how inclusive it is!! /RPCUyy1FiS- Adeem the Opryist July 20, 2023Īdeem introduced the performance on Twitter by joking that the clear spoof was actually a straight cover. Alright I caved to my record label and did a cover of the new song.

Dog muzzle for biting art