Introduction
Jason Aldean and “Try That in a Small Town”: The Song That Made America Argue, Listen, and Choose a Side
Some songs arrive quietly. Others arrive like a match struck in a dry field. Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” did not simply enter country music as another single. It became a national argument, a cultural flashpoint, and one of the most debated country songs of its era. But beneath the headlines, the outrage, and the defenses, there was a question older country listeners understood immediately: was America arguing about a song, or about who still gets to sing what they believe?
CMT PULLED HIS VIDEO ON MONDAY. BY FRIDAY, AMERICA PUT HIM AT #1. MAYBE THEY WEREN’T DEFENDING A SONG. MAYBE THEY WERE DEFENDING THE RIGHT TO SING IT.
That line captures the emotional center of the controversy. CMT pulled the music video in July 2023 after criticism over its imagery and message, and the debate quickly moved far beyond music. Soon after, the song surged commercially, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jason Aldean was standing on stage at Route 91 in Las Vegas the night 60 people were killed. He carried that home. He never made it anyone’s talking point.
That history matters. Aldean was performing at the Route 91 Harvest Festival during the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, an event that killed 60 people and wounded hundreds more. Years later, he spoke publicly about how deeply the tragedy affected him.
Six years later, he released “Try That in a Small Town.” A song about neighbors looking out for each other. About lines that don’t get crossed where he comes from.
Supporters heard the song as a defense of community, order, and rural loyalty. Critics heard something darker, especially when paired with a video filmed at a courthouse with a painful racial history and images of civil unrest. That difference in interpretation is why the song became so explosive.
CMT pulled the video. Headlines called him a racist. They picked apart the courthouse. They picked apart the footage. They picked apart everything except the song itself.
For many fans, that felt unfair. They believed the conversation ignored what they heard in the lyrics: a song about small towns protecting one another. But for critics, the imagery could not be separated from the message. Both reactions reveal the larger truth: music does not live in a vacuum. It carries history, memory, identity, and fear.
He didn’t apologize. He didn’t delete it. He didn’t explain himself twice. The song hit #1. Biggest sales week for a country record in over a decade.
The commercial response was undeniable. The song achieved the strongest sales week for a country song in more than ten years and became the biggest hit of Aldean’s career.
Critics said America only streamed it to win a culture war. But maybe 30 million people heard something real in it — something that sounded like the town they grew up in and the people they’d fight for. You don’t have to love the video. But before you call it hate — ask yourself if you ever listened past the headline.
That is the question at the heart of this moment. “Try That in a Small Town” may never be separated from controversy, but it cannot be dismissed as meaningless. To some, it sounded like provocation. To others, it sounded like pride, memory, and protection. Country music has always lived in that difficult space — where songs become arguments because they touch something real.
And whether one loves the song, dislikes the video, or questions the message, its impact cannot be denied. It forced America to listen, react, and reveal what it believed country music was allowed to say.