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Sheryl Crow spoke out about Jason Aldean’s controversial single, “Try That In A Small Town,” which has recently drawn criticism including for its pro-gun references.
Crow retweeted speaker and author Shannon Watts, who included a screenshot of Aldean’s lyrics as she shared her thoughts on Sunday (July 16). The screenshot includes “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/ They say one day they're gonna round up/ Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck/ Try that in a small town.”
Kennett, Missouri-born Crow, who has previously advocated for action to protect against gun violence, tagged Aldean as she wrote in a tweet on Tuesday night (July 18): “I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence.There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting. This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame.”
Watts points out that Aldean was on stage “during the mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert in 2017 that killed 60 people and wounded over 400 more - has recorded a song called ‘Try That In A Small Town’ about how he and his friends will shoot you if you try to take their guns.”
Aldean released “Try That In A Small Town” earlier this year — a song written by Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, Kelley Lovelace, and Neil Thrasher — and premiered the music video, which has since been pulled from CMT, on Friday (July 14). The video captures Aldean and his band reportedly performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, the site of the lynching of Henry Choate in 1927 and other violent incidents. The music video also shows footage of acts of violence, including robberies, flag burning and more. Aldean posted a statement following backlash in response to the single and video on his social media channels on Tuesday.
“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 said. “These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.
“As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy,” he continued, noting pushback in response to pro-gun lyrics in the song. “NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.
“Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief,” Aldean concluded. “Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences. 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. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.”