Jason Aldean has been around since 2006, during the “Big & Rich” era of Country Music. I call it that because Big & Rich (Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy) had a large influence on the music coming out of Nashville at that time, and were sought after writers. John Rich is a co-writer 5 songs on the album, and of 3 of the biggest singles, including one of his two recordings I still like, “Almarillo Sky.” The other being “Fly Over States” from his fourth and final decent album, 2010’s “My Kinda Party.”
I’ll give Jason Aldean credit, he’s found his lane and doesn’t veer from it. He knows what his audience likes, and he panders to them with every new album. It’s the same topics and material, with some new phrases and word play thrown into it so it’s not an exact copy of his previous release. It works for him, as he remains a mainstay on country radio and draws large crowds at his concerts.
For my musical taste, I just don’t enjoy the kind of country music Aldean has put out over the last decade+. It’s tired, boring, and uninteresting.
Now, let’s get to “Try That In A Small Town.” My thoughts are simple, it’s a typical Jason Aldean song: tired, boring, and uninteresting. It’s exactly what I’d expect from an artist that doesn’t evolve his sound in the slightest. It could go on any of his 10 albums and wouldn’t sound out of place. If it wasn’t for the video, I don’t think anybody outside of his fanbase would have anything to say about it.
The music video is where the controversy lies, and rightfully so. Aldean is not quiet about being a supporter of Donald Trump. I don’t care about that, per se, but it does put him in a box. The music video shows clips from incidents of civil unrest from Black Lives Matter protests, and even some Canadian protests. Now, if this video wasn’t about his political leanings, he should have added some January 6th footage, because that matches up beautifully with the lyrics of this song: spitting on cops, stomping on the flag. Of course we didn’t get that. What we did get was sever shots of the band performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where the heinous lynching of Henry Choate took place back in 1927. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_of_Henry_Choate) Do I suspect Aldean knew that? No. Do I suspect the video director/producer knew that? No, but maybe one or both of them did. In either case, it’s intent or ignorance that brought them to this shooting location. Given the already “controversial” lyrics of the song, and the imagery they selected to use in the video, a simple Google search of the building should have told them that maybe a nearby park or even a church might have been a better choice (both within walking distance of the courthouse, BTW).
Let’s get a couple things very clear. This backlash was caused by Aldean and his team. Per usual, he’s not talented enough to write his own songs (the ones he has co-wrote are awful and rarely released as singles). He was given a demo of this song, knew it pandered to his fans, and cut it. It’s the same thing he’s been doing for almost 20 years. He choose to use BLM unrest footage in his video. Why no January 6 footage when it seems to match the song’s message exactly? It doesn’t appeal to his fanbase. Why was the Maury County Courthouse used in the video? Ignorance or intent. I will give them the benefit of the doubt on this one, because even with his extreme political views, I’d hope he’s not stupid enough to do that on purpose.
This song and video did exactly what Aldean and his team knew it would do, fire up the people his music is geared to, and anger those it’s not. Aldean is not stupid, he’s just an egotistical asshole.