I basically only know of Jason Aldean because he’s married someone Maren Morris referred to as Insurrectionist Barbie. It’s honestly difficult to keep some of these country bros straight, because it feels like they’re all going to end up disappointing everyone. That being said, the cheatsheet is: Chris Stapleton is a good guy, Luke Combs covered Tracy Chapman and Jason Aldean and his wife are MAGA. Well, we can add something new to our country music crib sheet: Jason Aldean wrote an ode to small-town lynchings. I’m not joking. Here are some of the lyrics to Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.”
Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you’re toughWell, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small townGot a gun that my granddad gave me
They say one day they’re gonna round up
Well, that sh-t might fly in the city, good luck
Try that in a small townSee how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small townFull of good ol’ boys, raised up right
If you’re looking for a fight
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small townTry that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town
[Lyrics from Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town”]
There’s nothing quite like a white dude in 2023 mythologizing the most despicable parts of American history. Yes, he’s absolutely describing lynchings and their modern equivalent: violent, targeted hate crimes. Sundown towns still exist, there are still many parts of this country where Black and brown people are targeted for harassment and hate crimes simply for their skin color. Check out where Aldean shot his music video too. Despicable.
Jason Aldean shot this at the site where a white lynch mob strung Henry Choate up at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn., after dragging his body through the streets with a car in 1927.
That's where Aldean chose to sing about murdering people who don't respect police. https://t.co/gBL7FlaBS2 pic.twitter.com/eGfmMc8HAI
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) July 17, 2023
Just a reminder that Jason Aldean grew up in a city (population approx. 160,000) and now lives in Nashville, TN (population 692,000).
He has no idea what “happens in a small town”, he’s just a racist who writes barely concealed lynching songs. https://t.co/5JvfucZ5cN
— Kendall Brown (@kendallybrown) July 17, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Jason Aldean at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the T-Mobile Arena. Las Vegas, Nevada – Friday September 21, 2018. Photograph: © CPA/PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com,Image: 534023632, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com, Model Release: no, Credit line: CPA/PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA – APRIL 07: Jason Aldean and Brittany Kerr Aldean arrive at the 54th Academy Of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 7, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.,Image: 535803169, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289 – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA – APRIL 07: Artist of the Decade award winner Jason Aldean poses in the press room at the 54th Academy Of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 7, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.,Image: 535803889, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289 – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / Image Press Agency / Avalon
He’ll win a CMA.
No doubt.
Oh he’ll be asked to open the fucking show performing this song. Just wait.
Oh my god I hope not. He is such a fool. But a dangerous one.
Oh fun. A little summer song about guns and hate crimes.
This herb looks like his family tree is a branch.
He’s from Macon, Ga. He has no idea what a small town is. Neither do I, but I don’t pretend to be from one either.
There are towns so small in Texas that they don’t have a stop sign, yet alone a stop light.
Let’s rename that song “I’m a big fat racist and proud of it!”
1000% Susan Collins! Ugh, I can’t stand this wannabe… Never could (Barf).
As if the song doesn’t trigger Black people enough, he films the video at the site of an actual lynching. Yikes!
He’s doubling down in case the message of the song didn’t get through correctly. I mean wow…just wow.
“Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you’re tough”
I wonder if Jason has denounced the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol. Because those lyrics are exactly what some of those traitors did and I don’t hear any of the country bros speaking against them.
Bingo, but he’s too stupid to understand that, so are his fans.
+1
I get the sense that Jason is perfectly okay with folks #crimingwhilewhite.
LOL yeah at first I thought he was talking about the insurrectionists 😛
Exactly!
Isn’t he the guy who was onstage when a terrorist shot up Las Vegas?
Yep, he sure was. If he can’t be more aware to (waves hands around) things after being at that event, then wow…
yes, yes he is.
There is a fatal intellectual/emotional disconnect in these people.
Yep. And he just ran and left them. The gun man was shooting but hadn’t got to the crowd yet. Aldean just ran. He coukd see because he was on stage facing the area. He didn’t yell. He didn’t announce anything once he was safe.
At other concerts the rock and rap guys say something. Jason Aldean hid out for MONTHS over this. It may have been almost a year before he was walking around, acting like Mr tough guy. He was almost crying when someone asked him why he didn’t warn the crowd.
He ran off stage again this weekend. Evidently it was too hot for the good ole boy, and he just couldn’t finish the show.
Grew up around 90s country and liked a lot of it, there were a lot of female country singers, like Reba, Wynona, Martina, etc. I do like Chris Stapleton. But I can’t really listen to any current country stations bc the majority of it just feels like bro country songs. There’s not even that many female country singers on the radios nowadays. Maybe I’m wrong and just not listening long enough. Now this, this is despicable. Filming the video in front of where??? What the absolute f*ck? Trump allowed people to let their racist flags fly. Not that it wasn’t there before but now it’s all out there like a badge of honor. And please, I’m sure this man lives in a mansion. What small town does he speak of?
I grew up loving country and I feel the same. I used to play the country station for my late night commute home as an experiment to see if I was just changing the channel too soon (this was a year ago). From 11:15 until 1:15am I heard not one female voice while switching between 2 or 3 country stations. Not DJing, not singing, not in the commercials. Plenty of songs about “my girl” in “that dress” or other equally insipid descriptions of women.
That’s exactly the reason that Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, and Natalie Hemby formed the Highwomen a few years ago. The idea is that it’s like one of those old-school supergroups where famous singers join, cycle in and out, etc. I find a lot of mainstream country sounds too poppy for me, but a lot of really great artists with better values (to me, anyway) are playing in the Americana and folk genres. They don’t get as much airplay, it’s a shame. Anyway, check out the Highwomen, they are fantastic.
Ok dang, I wondered if I was imagining that on the radio but your experience pretty much confirms it. What a weird and terrible place country radio has become. And yeah, I like Kacey Musgrave but she’s played more on other stations I think. The amount of music that is being denied chances in order to keep this crap going is insane.
I grew up around country in the 90s, too, and it’s definitely gone down hill from then. And it’s pretty well documented how sexist it’s become. Women in generally get so little airplay, and it’s worse for women of color and LGBTQ+ people. All of the music is lyrically and musically vapid and repetative, because all you need to succeed really has be white and male.
The early 90s were the only time I ever got into country music, because there were so many fantastic female artists – Kathy Mattea, Suzy Boguss, Pam Tillis, Mary Chaplin Carpenter – the list of wonderful performers was endless. It’s so disheartening how much the industry has regressed.
During the Las Vagas Massacre, where hundreds were injured and dozens died, he could run away fast enough.
He and everything about him is a joke and it says ALOT that he has a successful career.
Totally off topic but have to ask as I’ve always wondered – why do Americans often say ‘could’ where we (UK) would say ‘couldn’t’?
E.g. we would say ‘I couldn’t care less’ to describe how little i care about it, like it would be impossible to care less than I do. Whereas I always see Americans say ‘I could care less’ presumably to mean the same thing (but to me means you must care a bit). I’m not trying to be snarky in any way I have just always wondered why?
In this case it was probably a typo. I did the same thing a couple of days ago.
Well I just removed the one song by him that I had on my country playlist. H-o-l-y s-h-$-t.
As someone who lives in actual small town, unlike Aldean, his attitude is scarily common in them. I know of a “neighborhood watch” group in my town that is always watching for thefts and they will get het up about anyone “suspicious”, ie, not white. And talk about wanting to shoot thieves. Our sheriff posses rode in Trump’s inaugural parade and is full MAGA. It’s gross and terrifying.
I went to college in a small town and the culture shock was real – some of the rowdiest and most dangerous behaviors I’ve encountered were dreamed up by bored white kids from small towns.
@hoodrat Most of my neighbors are cool. They know I’m a big liberal from the east. And all of my friends here are moderate democrats and one socialist.
I think most of the time people leave me alone is because they know I’m a disabled veteran. I’ve only had one guy get in my face and when I asked him if he ever served – he shut the f up after that. However, I am looking to move to Colorado in a few years with the hippies and the liberals. Lol.
I moved from a big city in the northeast to a small town in Kansas. Population: 6,500. My county is 95% white, .09% African American.
As a person who went to a predominantly black college in a large city, I find this lack of diversity troubling. I know most of my neighbors are Trump supporters. So, I take great delight in putting out my Biden flag. And in June, hanging my ginormous Pride flag on my porch. This song is a disgrace. Jason is a bigot and the rest of the world needs to cancel this guy.
MAN. Good for you. I don’t think I could do it. As I said below, just got back from the midwest and people are f*cking crazy down there. I had to leave the room almost every time politics came up (I got into it with his parents about trans folks last time and ended up crying) just for self-preservation and to avoid making another scene. My progressive husband doesn’t take any shit so I’ll leave the fighting for him.
So yeah, I’ll take my insanely expensive cost of living and my blue state politics over cheap housing and a regressive mindset.
I have Trump supporters across the street. As a single woman, I in no way try to draw any attention to my political differences with them. My dad in FL is surrounded by trumpers and he proudly flies all the liberal flags/puts out signs. I seriously worry for him around elections.
Jason Aldean is gross. Grosser than gross. My trash ex is a big fan.
Wow, H, you have guts! Just please be safe, because these people are completely nuts.
Yeah just came back from visiting my husband’s family in Iowa and this is insanely accurate. I’ll take my chances in the city thanks.
One of the things that needs to end now is the fantasy that rural America
Is somehow more moral than urban America.
More moral…and more “real America.” I swear, small town folks somehow think they’re more important and “real” US citizens because they don’t live in cities, and its gross.
Is anyone surprised??
Of course he did, all these guys are so hypocritical and preach this garbage but they don’t truly live it. I’m here in the Deep South and many of them cheat on their wives and girlfriends, like Aldean did, and they disrespect police constantly by breaking laws, they drink and drive, verbally and physically abuse their wives, and talk back to police when they get pulled over, the only difference is they get away with it instead of getting shot to death.
Just two weeks ago I was in the red neck riviera of Panama City beach and the water was closed due to dangerous rip currents, surrounded by drunk white people who let their kids get in the water all day, even after being told by lifeguards and police to get out multiple times, as soon as police were gone they’d all get right back in and go back to drinking, finally the police started handing out $500 tickets to parents who let their kids get in, and one dad almost fought an officer over it, while he was wearing the black American flag shorts of course, then went around ranting about how he didn’t do anything wrong. They are entitled pieces of shit but they get away with it. I heard that some counties have opened CPS investigations over it, thankfully.
Your comment sums it up perfectly. All of my in laws/ extended family members who I have lost to Qanon and Maga are the ones that would get super drunk and physically fight with opposing fans at baseball games, they treat their wives like garbage but go to church every Sunday and lament about God not being in the schools being the reason we are in deep shit here, they drink and drive still and they are all over 45, they haven’t changed their ways at all except for letting the mask that was barely hanging on as it is fall completely off and are now proud of their bigoted and racist views.
So yeah when I read that he had to end a concert early because of heat exhaustion or something I chuckled to myself. This guy is so gross which is why he probably sleeps in that cowboy hat, he cheated on his wife with this maga Barbie and they are both transphobes. The country music scene has completely descended into maga imo. I used to listen to it in the 90’s too, Deanna Carter, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, none of those people are like what I see now. Granted I don’t listen to it anymore but when I see who the big names are winning all the awards, this douche, that Whalen guy, then I have no interest in even trying.
Yes alllllll of this. It’s only bad behavior when it’s not a white person doing it.
And they are so effin weird about trans people. One dude actually asked my husband if he ever sees trans folks living in the city, as if they’re f*cking zoo animals. I’m so terrified for the LGBTQ community, but particularly trans people, because the Right is absolutely putting a target on their back. Inevitably, this intolerance and hatred will just lead to more violence being perpetrated against a community that has already faced unspeakable brutality. The cons are also OBSESSED with human trafficking as if The Bad People are coming for their white daughters and not black and brown kids. Ugh.
They really are oddly obsessed with the trans community right now, and painting them as pedo perverts who will hurt your children. It’s so bizarre how I’m suddenly seeing that EVERYWHERE. The funny part is the type of person I’m most afraid of is a straight white conservative man, in my 42 years of experience they are the most dangerous to women and children…..
@jessica-I totally agree with this. I’ve been harassed and assaulted by only one group of people and it’s not trans people, it’s white men. They make me the most uncomfortable and not only because they might harass me but they may have a gun and I live in a red county.
@Jessica
Absof*ckinglutely! The majority of trans people are just trying to live their lives and betrayed with a little respect. The people with the most skeletons in their closet are absolutely the older, white and male, conservative crowd.
@Kitten
Your comments are always super thoughtful and well articulated. I’m sorry your husband’s family is like that, but I’m glad your husband is one of the good ones. Keep fighting the good fight!
All of this, Jess!
I’d like to know more about the Jason Aldeen cheating story just so it hurts her feelings again.
Someone needs to give him a copy of Rambo, the story of small town cops tormenting a veteran with PTSD. This mythology of god/guns/patriotism is fairly new. Heck, ask Mellencamp, Springsteen, or any of the small town *liberal* working class heroes of the 80s. I’m so sick of this post 9-11 reimagining of white working class struggles.
Don’t forget Cash, Nelson, Jennings, and Kristofferson from a generation before. We shall never see the likes of them again.
A random tweet yesterday sent me off to read a wonderful Rolling Stone profile of Kris Kristofferson, written by Ethan Hawke of all people. In it there is an anecdote about the time Toby Keith half jokingly told Kris to tone down his liberal speeches on stage. Kristofferson is a Rhodes scholar, the son of a general, spent time in the Army Rangers flying helicopters and taught for a short while at West Point. He very succinctly told Keith where to stick his performative patriotism.
Thank you for the reminder! My parents weren’t country at all, but we had Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton records, and Willie was my first concert when they took me to see him at a state fair. “Performative Patriotism” is correct. And it’s dangerous, as every fascist society in history can attest to.
What an iconic first concert! And Dolly is another legend that never apologizes for being progressive and open minded.
Aldean and that wanna be MAGA Barbie are disgusting. She purposefully posts hates about the Trans community. They have both shown themselves to be the worst of the worst.
For many of us, we don’t have to spit or cuss out a cop. Merely driving my lawfully registered vehicle through a small town as a white-knuckled Black woman minding traffic laws and my own business, I’m aware that they’re itching to harass or hurt me and I better not let the sun go down on me in such a place.
Yeah, he’ll get a CMA award for this song because that crowd loves to demonstrate how much they disdain non-white folks. Good for him, he’ll get the “Best Song About A Lynching” award, along with a standing ovation.
And white women who call them out on it. I won’t forget how they reacted when The Chicks (known as The Dixie Chicks at the time) said they were disappointed to be from Texas where President Bush was from. Talk about cancel culture! These nutjobs canceled those women so fast it made your head spin.
Following his wife’s instagram shows she is worse than him. She is capitalizing big time on MAGA by hawking extreme right tee shirts and hats. Even dresses her kids in the stuff. They do this while living in a multimillion dollar mansion in Nashville. Also they are extreme anti-vaccine folks who love Trump.
That filming location… it makes me sick. Amazing what people can excuse in themselves. He probably thinks he’s a pretty good guy.
Maybe he can collaborate with Morgan Wallen to make the next most racist song in country music.
OMG, this song could be about the Ahmaud Arbery shooting in Georgia. This is horrible.
He and his wife are both AWFUL. When there was a mass shooting at one of his concerts, he never condemned it or did anything for the victims, as far as I’ve read.
Utter trash
I moved to a very conservative southern “city” when I was very young and was traumatized by the name calling and very real disliking they had for anyone who was not white and spoke a different language. I CANNOT stand country music because it reminds me that backwards ass mentality. And he just solidified my dislike of it.
I believe he has a restaurant in Nashville and his employees and patrons should be aware of what he like – because they are making money for him. And yet what is most disturbing is that he has a strong fan base.
there is good country music, but you have to find it. I like a lot of ’70s and earlier stuff. Johnny Cash, Dolly, Crystal Gayle, Reba McIntyre, Bonnie Raitt. this maga stuff isn’t even good musically. even the oldschool stuff is a bit of a “guilty pleasure” for me.
it’s unfortunate that it has come to this. country, blues, bluegrass all have roots in African music. (also Irish music!)
can’t we all get along?
At least he’s getting dragged on twitter in response to the music video for this song, people pointing out that Macon GA is not a small town, how racist this song is, how problematic it is, etc.
He just got heat stroke and cancelled one of his shows. He’s been a bigoted creep for a while. His wife’s love of social media has made it even more obvious. Is Chris Stapleton “good”? I don’t know. I remember after watching an interview with him for the last time and not liking him. The other times I watched were rare and fine. Maybe Luke Combs is fine, but this is why people side eye a white country singer for rerecording a great famous song by a black gay woman. He maybe alright personally but still. Many of them are very MAGA.
He and his wife are the worst. I’ve been retweeting the backlash for days. They put political shirts on their kids and the wife is anti trans just to name a few things.
A lot of country music people are amazing. Please dont lump them all together.
My ex and I stopped at an Alabama Stuckey’s and it was like Wrong Turn! When we walked in everybody turned to look at us and we are white! A black man walked in and asked if they had something that he could fill his radiator with and the answer was no. I could feel the tension in the air. We went outside and gave him a gallon of antifreeze and told them(2 black couples) to get the HLL out of there. They passed us a few miles later, honking and waving. I can’t imagine them sitting there broken down. I don’t go to Florida or Alabama anymore.
I remember as a kid asking my parents if we could drive down to Florida from Canada for vacation. Being brown, my parents were like “hell no”. They said it wasn’t safe to do so. You have to drive through places that really don’t like anyone who isn’t White. Nothing has changed since then.
You are so kind for helping that couple out.
I have lived in Alabama for 32 years and I was born in Massachusetts. It is unfortunate that our states’ politicians and the press that chooses to be covered in this state is still decidedly racist. For the Liberals and moderates in this state, it is a source of sadness and frustration. However, much has changed in Alabama. This is not 1963. Many people have worked tirelessly to overcome our racist past. Most would consider the roads safe. In fact, the most popular tourist destination in Alabama is the Peace and Justice Museum, which takes an unflinching look at the Alabama’s history of racial injustice.
Finally, kudos to you for giving them your anti-freeze.
This loser and his idiot wife are total garbage.
MAGAT poster couple.
JFC, this stupid ahole witnessed dozens of his fans getting ripped apart by bullets and thinks it’s ok to double down on his bigoted bs?? And the video??! Please tell me we’re getting close to the tipping point. He makes me sick.
The Dead Milkmen (lefty punk bank) released a song in 1985 called “Tiny Town” that was a critical send up of these kind of attitudes. It’s crazy to me that in 2023 someone is releasing this song dead serious.
He looks like wet garbage.
This is nothing new for him: https://www.953wiki.com/news/country-music-news/owners-of-jason-aldeans-bar-issue-statement-on-accusations-of-racism/
If I was non-white, I would avoid any state with lax gun laws. It’s just legalized lynching now. If a white person doesn’t like you, they can kill you and say they felt threatened. How is this any different than the way it was before when a white person would make up a story about a Black person after the white person did something wrong and they blamed the Black person to cover their backside? This is why history is important. Notice how the places doing this are the same ones screaming about CRT. They don’t want people to know about what happened so they can start doing that stuff today and get away with it.
I like country music but was never a fan of Jason and def not his wife
Jason Aldean is a hate-filled bigot – just look at his face, doesn’t even need his hateful words to know who he is
When he ran off the stage in Vegas, he should have kept running….
Singing about small towns doesn’t need to be a racist anthem, lots of songs highlight the sense of community and kindness – Luke Bryan does it, so does Eric Church and countless others
What a sorry excuse for a human being,
*Alleged* human being.
Before I read Kendallville tweet I could tell Jason Aldean was not from a small town. Small town people hate cops. Small town people did January 6th. What do they think those militias are for? It’s for the cops. Cops have tried to infiltrate them but a militias is too keep back law enforcement. Jason Aldean is stupid and doesn’t know his history. Those Small town people don’t volunteer for the army.
Eh, let them be trash. I’d rather know who the assholes are at this point. The kind of people who say this kind of shit are the kind who cry like babies the moment they find out the other side isn’t a bunch of pushovers. Never forget when Ben Shapiro filed a police report for “battery” when Zoey Tur made it clear what would happen if he kept misgendering her in a live debate, the loser.
Wowowowowoowowowowowwowowow!!!!
in your face!!!
As a black male, I prefer this. Upfront.
I actually did grow up in a small religious town. This sounds like stereotype raised to caricature. Never heard of it before.
Songwriters credit on Apple Music for the song:
Kelly Lovelace
Kurt Allison
Neil Thrasher
Tully Kennedy
An ode to the white fragility of the thin blue line crowd which simultaneously wants to show how brave they are while displaying their despicable cowardice and manafactutred fear towards people of color. These people glorify in their blood soaked heritage while worshipping law enforcement with their enforced racist and legal tactics to murder, threaten and lynch poc. I live in what used to be a sun down town. The racist a**holes are still around and very proud of their “traditional American values”. All July long we have a glorified “old settlers weekend” every weekend and it’s steeped in white supremacist trash and their twangy migraine inducing music.
Aaaaaand now Jason is backpedaling. He’s been forced to address the wave of people calling him out on this song and his response is basically “it’s about small town community banding together blah blah blah”.
So yeah, the bully can dish it out but cowards out when he gets yelled at.
F*cking loser.