Jason Aldean Performs ‘Try That in a Small Town’ at CMA Fest — Should ABC Have Dropped Song From Broadcast?
Two days after CMT dropped from its rotation the music video for Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” ABC proceeded to air a pre-taped performance of the divisive song during CMA Fest.
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As previously reported, CMT stopped airing “Try That in a Small Town” after just three days of airplay — and in the wake of backlash that arose online. The music video (embedded below) features the five-time Grammy nominee performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tenn. Henry Chaote, an 18-year-old Black man, was lynched by a mob in 1927 at that courthouse after being accused of attacking a white girl.
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The video also includes footage of an American flag burning, protesters screaming and attacking police, and robbers stealing from a convenience store. At one point, a Fox News chyron that reads “State of Emergency Declared in Georgia” is shown.
In response to the controversy, Aldean tweeted Tuesday that any claims that the song’s lyrics are “pro-lynching” and/or anti-Black Lives Matter are “not only meritless, but dangerous.” And on Wednesday, ABC included Aldean’s performance during its three-hour presentation of CMA Fest, which was filmed at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium in June and did not feature footage from the music video.
CMA Fest also featured performances by Alabama, Leon Bridges, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Vince Gill, HARDY, Tyler Hubbard, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Avril Lavigne, Little Big Town, Ashley McBryde, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Old Dominion, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, Darius Rucker, Tanya Tucker, Keith Urban and hosts Dierks Bentley, Elle King and Lainey Wilson. As of press time, ABC’s YouTube channel featured CMA Fest performances by every artist in the special except for Aldean.
“There is not a single lyric in [“Try That in a Small Town”] that references race or points to it, and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage,” Aldean argued on Twitter Tuesday. “And while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music, this one goes too far.”
Instead, he posited that the song “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. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences.”
We want to hear what you think. Should ABC have ditched Aldean’s performance altogether? Or were they right to air it as planned? Sound off in Comments.
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