Jason Aldean’s pro-gun lyrics, video spark controversy

Jason Aldean cut short a show this weekend because of heat exhaustion. His latest single has also jacked up the temperature.

The video for Aldean’s latest single, “Try That In A Small Town,” was released Saturday. The singer, who was on stage during the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting at Route 91 Harvest, has issued a song that compares city and small-town lifestyles when addressing violent crime.

The new video uses news footage of people protesting against police, surveillance video of convenience- and jewelry-store robberies, played alongside Aldean’s lyrics about gun ownership and vigilantism.

Aldean’s agents with William Morris Endeavor declined comment Monday. An e-mail to his media representative has not been returned.

The single “Try That In A Small Town” was issued in May, but the video dropped just as Aldean started his “Highway Desperado” tour. The veteran singer/songwriter was forced from the stage Saturday at Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut, as he suffered from heat exhaustion. The venue reportedly told fans that the show would be rescheduled.

Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” video has since sparked controversy and debate across the country. He performed the song live for the first time Thursday at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in New York.

Lyric examples from the song’s opening verse: “Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk/Carjack an old lady at a red light. Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store/Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like. Cuss out a cop, spit in his face/Stomp on the flag and light it up. Yeah, ya think you’re tough.”

The chorus: “Well, try that in a small town/See how far ya make it down the road. ‘Round 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.”

And a line later in the song, Aldean sings, “Got a gun that my granddad gave me/They say one day they’re gonna round up. Well, that s*** might fly in the city, good luck.”

Aldean grew up in Macon, Georgia, population 157,346; and Homestead, Florida, population 80,737 (according to the 2020 U.S. Census). “Try That In A Small Town” is not to be confused with Aldean’s 2021 single, “Small Town Small.”

Aldean has said the new song illustrates how he feels about world events. He told “The Bobby Bones Show” in May, as the single was released, “Everyday you turn on the news and see something crazy happened and a new heartbreaking story.”

On Instagram, Aldean said, “When u grow up in a small town, it’s that unspoken rule of “we all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.” It feels like somewhere along the way, that sense of community and respect has gotten lost. Deep down we are all ready to get back to that. I hope my new music video helps y’all know that u are not alone in feeling that way.”

Some listeners criticize “Try That in a Small Town” as a call to arms, promoting an escalation of gun violence.

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand, a non-profit aimed at reducing gun violence in America, tweeted Sunday, “@Jason_Aldean - who 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.”

.@Jason_Aldean - who 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. pic.twitter.com/hWGdEgS33v

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 17, 2023

Nashville blogger Leigh Love was quoted in Forbes as saying the song “is not only reminding people that sun down towns exists, but that he loves them.” The term “sun down town” is in reference to the Jim Crow-era practice where some towns forced Black people to depart their communities by sunset.

Country outlets were more supportive. Taste of Country termed it “as essential to country music as the steel guitar” and “a song that is intended to be every bit the threat it sounds like.”

In 2017, Aldean was performing “When She Says Baby” on the third and final night of Route 91 Harvest music festival when a Nevada man opened fire on the crowd of 22,000, killing 60, the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history.

Aldean has performed at Dolby Live at Park MGM for three shows in December 2021, in his “Back In The Saddle” tour. He has cut ties with his longtime PR agency, TheGreenRoom, which promoted that tour, last September. The company had repped Aldean for 17 years.

The split was announced by the company after Aldean’s wife, social-media influencer Britney Kerr-Aldean, posted inflammatory comments about gender on Instagram. The post led to a terse, widely publicized back-and-forth with singers Maren Morris and Cassadee Pope.

Aldean recalled the Route 91 shooting during the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards Show. Aldean had earlier introduced Chris Stapleton’s “Watch You Burn,” which was inspired by the emotions of the tragic night.

Aldean and Resorts World headliner Carrie Underwood performed the song that won the ACM Award for Single of the Year, “If I Didn’t Love You.”

Aldean said of his relationship with Las Vegas and with Route 91, “It’s not quite the way I want to be attached to the city, by any means. But I do feel a special connection to the city, and more so since Route 91. I enjoy coming back here, I have always had a great time being here.”

Aldean went on, “Some of the highlights of my career happened in this town, at this particular show, so I have a lot of great memories from here. With the exception of the one time, it’s always been great For me, personally, I’m kind of at peace with everything. I just try to move on and make the best of a bad situation. It’s all you can do.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.