Country star battle royale: Jake Owen blasts Jason Isbell for daring Jason Aldean to “write his next single himself”
In the latest episode of the battle of the country stars, Jason Isbell slams Jason Aldean over his controversial new song Try That in a Small Town, with Jake Owen chiming in on the spat, calling out Isbell for being a ‘tough guy’ behind his keyboard.
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For the uninitiated, the debate revolves around Aldean’s latest single Try That in a Small Town, which has sparked considerable outrage over its alleged racist and ‘pro-lynching’ lyrics and imagery in both the song and video.
The music video, which has since been pulled from Country Music Television (CMT), features Aldean singing in front of the Maury county courthouse in Tennessee – the site of the lynching of Henry Choate in 1927 – interspersed with footage of protests, violence and crime. The song also features lyrics ‘Try that in a small town/ See how far ya make it down the road/ Around here, we take care of our own.’
While Aldean has taken to Twitter to defend himself, many country stars — from big and small towns alike — have spoken out against the track, with Isbell tweeting: “Dare Aldean to write his next single himself. That’s what we try in my small town.”
Jason, you’re always the first to get behind your keyboard and spout off with this stupid shit. 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. https://t.co/Sm7jbD9HX3
— Jake Owen (@jakeowen) July 20, 2023
His comments drew ire from fellow country artist Jake Owen, who fired back, writing: “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.”
Shortly after, Isbell followed up with a second tweet tagging Aldean: “Ok here ya go Jason Aldean, I’m challenging you to write a song yourself. All alone. If you’re a recording artist, make some art. I want to hear it,’ adding 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.”
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. https://t.co/4trCw0S98k
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 20, 2023
The musician has also addressed Owen’s criticisms head one, writing “What really gets me about this is that it’s saying “if you don’t believe you can physically overpower me, you aren’t allowed to publicly disagree with me.” What does that say to the people in your life who aren’t big strong boys? They just have to shut up?”
What really gets me about this is that it’s saying “if you don’t believe you can physically overpower me, you aren’t allowed to publicly disagree with me.” What does that say to the people in your life who aren’t big strong boys? They just have to shut up? https://t.co/MRL8trpgBl
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 20, 2023
Originally released in May, Try That in a Small Town was written by Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher, and Tully Kennedy and produced by Aldean’s longtime producer Michael Knox.
Read Aldean’s statement in full below.
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…
Posted by Jason Aldean on Tuesday, July 18, 2023
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