Jason Aldean has been a staple of country radio for nearly two decades, but nothing he’s ever released—not even the multi-platinum "Dirt Road Anthem"—ignited a firestorm quite like Try That in a Small Town. It wasn't just a song. It became a cultural Rorschach test. Some people heard a tribute to community values and law and order, while others heard a thinly veiled threat laced with historical baggage.
Honestly, the sheer scale of the fallout was wild to watch in real-time.
Most country tracks follow a predictable lifecycle: they climb the Billboard Country Airplay chart, get played at every summer tailgate, and eventually fade into the background of Nashville’s greatest hits. This one was different. It didn't just climb the charts; it teleported to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 after a music video release that basically broke the internet. You’ve probably seen the headlines, but the actual story of how this song became a lightning rod is a bit more nuanced than a simple "right vs. left" debate.
The Lyrics That Started the Conversation
The song itself, written by Kelly Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Rhett Akins, and Kurt Allison, lists a series of actions—carjacking an old lady at a red light, pulling a gun on a liquor store clerk, spitting in a cop's face. The hook then poses a challenge: Try That in a Small Town. The core message is that while these things might fly in a big city, small-town residents look out for one another and won't tolerate that kind of behavior.
It’s an old trope.
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Country music has been romanticizing the "tough" small town for a century. Think about Hank Williams Jr.’s "A Country Boy Can Survive." The sentiment is remarkably similar: we have our own way of doing things, and we’re self-reliant. However, the timing of Aldean's release hit a nerve in a post-2020 landscape where discussions about policing, urban crime, and rural-urban divides were already at a boiling point.
Critics quickly pointed to the line about "a gun that my granddad gave me" and the warning to "see how far you make it down the road." For some, this felt less like a neighborly warning and more like a call for vigilantism. Aldean, for his part, has consistently denied any racial undertones or ill intent. He’s argued that the song is about the sense of community he felt growing up—a place where you could leave your doors unlocked and people actually cared about their neighbors.
Why the Music Video Changed Everything
If the song was a spark, the music video was a tank of gasoline. Released in July 2023, the visuals for Try That in a Small Town featured Aldean performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee.
That specific location became the epicenter of the controversy.
The courthouse was the site of the 1927 lynching of Henry Choate, a 18-year-old Black man, and was also a focal point of the Columbia Race Riot in 1946. When this information surfaced, the backlash was immediate and intense. CMT (Country Music Television) pulled the video from its rotation just days after it premiered.
Was it intentional? The production company, TackleBox, noted that the courthouse is a popular filming location—it’s appeared in numerous movies and even a Lifetime Christmas film. They claimed the site was chosen for its "small-town aesthetic." But for many, the historical context was impossible to ignore. The video also spliced in news footage of protests, flag burning, and clashes with police, which many viewers felt targeted the Black Lives Matter movement specifically, even though the footage included international protests as well.
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The Chart Explosion and the "Streisand Effect"
You'd think a major network pulling a video would kill a song’s momentum.
Actually, the opposite happened.
The move by CMT triggered what’s known as the Streisand Effect, where attempting to hide or censor something only makes it more popular. Fans of Aldean and those who felt he was being unfairly "canceled" rallied around the track. They didn't just listen; they bought it in droves. In the week following the controversy, digital sales of Try That in a Small Town skyrocketed by over 900%.
It eventually hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, a rare feat for a country artist. It was the first time in history that country songs held the top three spots on the chart simultaneously (alongside Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs). This wasn't just about the music anymore. It was a political statement. People were voting with their wallets.
Breaking Down the Criticisms and Defenses
To really understand why this song remains such a talking point, you have to look at the two fundamentally different ways people interpret the art.
On one side, you have the "pro-community" interpretation. This group sees the song as a defense of traditional American values. They argue that crime in cities is out of control and that the song represents a desire for a return to a time when people felt safe. To them, the "small town" is a metaphor for a moral code, not a literal geography. They see the backlash as an example of "woke" culture attacking anyone who doesn't conform to a specific worldview.
On the other side, there's the "dog whistle" critique. This group argues that the song uses coded language to target marginalized groups. They point out that "city" and "small town" have long been used in American politics as shorthand for racial and cultural divides. They find the imagery of the courthouse and the mentions of "good ol' boys" raised right to be exclusionary at best and threatening at worst.
Music critic Marcus K. Dowling noted that the song tapped into a "simmering resentment" that exists in the heart of the country. It’s a tension that has been part of the American fabric for a long time, but Aldean’s track brought it to the surface in a way that couldn't be ignored.
The Industry Impact and What Comes Next
Nashville is a town built on "three chords and the truth," but it’s also a business that usually hates bad PR. For a few weeks, the industry felt paralyzed. Some artists defended Aldean, like Travis Tritt and Blanco Brown (who initially expressed some conflict but later called for unity). Others, like Sheryl Crow, were more direct in their criticism, tweeting at Aldean that "there is nothing small-town or American about promoting violence."
The long-term impact on Aldean's career seems to be... well, he’s doing just fine.
His tours remained sold out. His fan base is more loyal than ever. If anything, the controversy solidified his status as a "rebel" within the genre, even if he’s one of the most mainstream artists in the world. But it also forced country music to have a very uncomfortable conversation about its relationship with race, history, and the political divide in America.
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The song also highlighted a massive disconnect between "the industry" and "the audience." While critics and media outlets were largely condemnatory, the streaming numbers showed a massive, underserved audience that felt the song spoke directly to them.
Actionable Takeaways for Navigating the Controversy
If you're still trying to make sense of the Try That in a Small Town saga, here are a few ways to look at it through a more objective lens:
- Research the context: Don't just rely on 15-second TikTok clips. Read the full lyrics and understand the history of the filming locations. Context changes everything.
- Acknowledge the divide: Understand that two people can listen to the exact same song and have two valid, yet completely opposite, emotional reactions based on their lived experiences.
- Look at the charts vs. the critics: This song is a masterclass in how modern media works. Disapproval from "the gatekeepers" (TV networks and critics) can often act as a massive marketing tool for the right-leaning or anti-establishment audience.
- Separate the art from the artist: You can enjoy Aldean’s music without agreeing with his politics, or you can find the song's messaging problematic while acknowledging his right to record it.
The story of this song isn't over. It’s likely to be cited for years as a pivotal moment in the "culture wars" of the 2020s. It showed that music still has the power to move people—sometimes to dance, and sometimes to argue in the streets. Whether you think it’s a brave anthem or a dangerous provocation, one thing is certain: you can’t say it didn't get people talking.
To get a full sense of the musical landscape this song was born from, it’s worth comparing it to other recent country hits that have leaned into political themes, such as Oliver Anthony’s "Rich Men North of Richmond." Both songs suggest a growing trend of "protest music" coming from a demographic that feels forgotten by the modern world. Watching how these tracks perform on streaming services versus traditional radio will tell you a lot about where the country is headed.