3 Hoosiers weigh in on Jason Aldean’s ‘Try That In A Small Town’

Indianapolis, Indiana – It has been condemned that the lyrics to Jason Aldean’s new song “Try That In A Small Town” are racist, that the music video was shot in a 2020 protest, and that it was shot there.

In Columbia, Tennessee, in front of the Maury County Courthouse, a music video for the song was shot. This location was the scene of a racial riot in 1946 and the 1927 lynching of Henry Choate, an 18-year-old Black teen.

In a tweet, Aldean defended the track, claiming that it “refers to the feeling of a community that he had growing up.”

Doneisha Posey, vice president and general counsel of the north side of Indianapolis-based Black Onyx Management firm, disagrees.

“This painful legacy of such events resonates differently with various communities today, particularly the Black community. If we’re not considering the perspectives of individuals that may feel threatened, marginalized or misrepresented by the content of the song and its visuals we are not living up to the ideals of what the United States of America could and should be.”

Posey claimed that the song’s visuals and lyrics might put marginalized populations in jeopardy. “It’s dangerous and disturbing and the hints at violence and the historic nods are clearly dog whistles of racism that we can not ignore.”

TyJuan Garrett, a vice president of the Greater Indianapolis Branch of the NAACP, said the song attempts to create division. “At the end of the day, it seems like you’re trying to drive a wedge, like the urban wedge, when in all actuality there is no urban community or rural community. There is community.”

Jason Hammer from the “Hammer and Nigel Show” on Indianapolis radio station WIBC said the Tennessee courthouse has previously been used in other pieces of music and art. “This courthouse is used in a lot of movies, a lot of TV shows, probably best-known as having a big role in the Hannah Montana movie. So, it’s not like this was chosen specifically. It was probably something set up.”

The song and video are protest art, according to Hammer, and free expression must be protected. “If you’re an absolute free speech person, which I am, you have to respect it and it kind of feels like this needs to go both ways.”

Posey said she’s unsure of what will happen, while Hammer said he doesn’t think this will have a bad impact on Aldean’s career.

On September 16, Aldean will play at the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville.