Jake Owen called out Jason Isbell for his tweet about Jason Aldean, following controversy surrounding the Georgia-born artist’s latest single, “Try That In A Small Town.”
Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” — written by Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, Kelley Lovelace, and Neil Thrasher — drew widespread criticism (followed by support from the singer’s loyal fans and his wife, Brittany Aldean) after Aldean premiered the music video on July 14. The video, which has since been pulled from CMT’s rotation, features Aldean and his band performing in front of the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, the site of the lynching of Henry Choate in 1927 and other incidents of racial violence. It also shows footage of unrest during protests, flag burning, robberies and more.
“Dare Aldean to write his next single himself. That’s what we try in my small town,” Isbell, from Alabama, wrote in a tweet on Wednesday evening (July 19).
Owen retweeted it with his response on Thursday morning (July 20)”
“Jason, you’re always the first to get behind your keyboard and spout off with this stupid sh*t. In ‘my small town’ you just walk up to the guy and be a man to his face if you want the smoke… not tweet it at him…. Tough guy.”
One Twitter user wanted to know why the Loose Cannon star “didn’t walk up to (Isbell) and say this to his face,” rather than in a tweet? Owen assured: “Oh I have. I hit him up directly on his phone last time he said some silly nonsense like this. He knows.”
Isbell followed his original tweet with another one on Thursday afternoon, “challenging” — and tagging — Aldean “to write a song yourself. All alone. If you’re a recording artist, make some art. I want to hear it.” Isbell added minutes later: “Seriously how do you defend the content of a song you weren’t even in the room for? You just got it from your producer. If you’d been there when it was written, you’d be listed as a writer. We all know how this works."
Aldean shared a statement in response to the controversy surrounding “Try That In A Small Town” on his social media channels on Tuesday (July 18). Read it here:
“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 subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t 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.
“As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.
“Try That In A Small Town, for me, 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. My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.”