By Ray Cardello for July 20, 2023, Season 20 / Post 47

We are a large country, and those who live on the coasts wrongly assume that we represent all Americans in values and wants. Most of America is insulated from the problems of the big cities and the population-dense regions of the East and West. I envy these lucky folks who live in the forgotten fly-over areas of America. These folks are still living in the America we work hard to remember. They are true Americans, and I pray they keep their way of life for many decades.

Jason Aldean is a popular Country music artist that has found himself in a battle this week between small-town middle America and the pompous, self-important influencers on the coasts. The irony is how slow these brilliant protestors were to find a cause to protest. Aldean produced a song in May called “Try That In A Small Town.” It is a story about the social unrest and destructive behavior in many large cities in the Summer of 2020, The Summer of Love.

Jason Aldean knows firsthand about violence and mass shootings. At his concert in 2017 in Las Vegas, a deranged individual began raining bullets on the crowd at Aldean’s outdoor concert from a nearby hotel. There were 59 innocent people killed in one of the worst mass shootings in American history. He speaks from experience and with authority when he chose to publish this controversial single.

The “Try That In A Small Town” video is a collage of actual news footage sampling the violence of 2020. Viewers also noted that scenes in the video were shot at the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, where a Black man named Henry Choate, 18, was lynched in 1927. The site is also where the infamous Columbia Race Riot occurred in 1946. Nowhere in the song does Aldean call for violence of any type, and it certainly does not hint that shooters or people who participate in violent protests should be lynched.

Aldean says this song shows this behavior would not be tolerated in small-town America. In small towns, people still have values, morals and stand up for each other. Violent protests would be shut down quicker than they started. Aldean released his “Try That In A Small Town” song in May but dropped a video Friday to promote the single while building anticipation for an upcoming album release. The music had been on the air since May with no adverse publicity. The video was a different story, and Twitter was on fire with criticism and support for Aldean.

Country Music Television is no longer airing Jason Aldean’s music video “Try That In A Small Town,” which sparked criticism after its release Friday. The TV network pulled the video from rotation. A CMT spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY in an email Wednesday. Ironically, the negative publicity and banning of the song have only made it more popular and drove demand for downloads. CMT showed how influential cancel culture is and how little they know about their viewers. The people up in arms about this video are not Country Music fans, and those of us who are, are disappointed in the cowardice of CMT.

Amazingly, these same protestors are mute about the people abused and dying crossing our Southern Border. They say nothing about Fentanyl deaths and sex/child trafficking. Yet a video has them riled. These people are irrational and inconsistent; it is a shame they are given credibility by yielding to their demands. Let them make those demands in a small town and see who listens.