Country star Jason Aldean criticised for anti-protest song

Jason Aldean's Try That In A Small Town was pulled off air on Monday by Country Music Television, days after its release.

On Twitter, Aldean, 46, rejected the criticism, calling it "meritless" and "dangerous".

Another country star, Sheryl Crow, accused Aldean of "promoting violence".

The song was released in May, but the video came out last Friday and quickly began to draw a backlash.

The three-minute production features clips of masked protesters, Molotov cocktails and a burning American flag as well as CCTV of robberies.

"Well, try that in a small town, see how far ya make it down the road," Aldean sings.

The lyrics also refer to "a gun that my granddad gave me" and communities "full of good ol' boys, raised up right".

The video was filmed in front of a courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee. Critics noted that a white mob lynched a young black man, Henry Choate, from the building in 1927.

The video is interspersed with footage of protesters, some of them violent, facing off against police. The filming location for the performance element of the video, Maury County courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, has a disturbing history: in 1927 it was the site of the lynching of a Black man, Henry Choate.

Country Music Television has now removed the video from its channel, though has not commented or elaborated on the decision. It remains on YouTube where it has been viewed more than 800,000 times.

Aldean himself responded to the controversy surrounding his video and song, slamming his detractors, who have accused the song and video of being, racist and anti- BLM protest. “ In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song(a song that has been out since May) and was subjected to  a comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests,” Aldean said “ these references are not only  meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single video clip that isn’t real news footage- and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.

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 Sarah H

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