Country singer Travis Tritt has come to the defense of his fellow country artist Jason Aldean in the wake of the “Try That in a Small Town” song and music video controversy. Aldean’s music video was filmed at the site where 18-year-old Henry Choate was lynched in 1927.
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Aldean, who recently released the music video for the country song, has been the subject of much online criticism for the track’s lyrics and accompanying music video. To wit, recently CMT pulled the video from its TV channel after backlash. And popular artists Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell have been critical of Aldean, too.
[RELATED: Production Company Behind Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” Responds to Controversy]
Now, Tritt is coming to his country performer peer’s defense. “For the record, I love the new @Jason_Aldean single, ‘Try That In A Small Town,’ Tritt shared on Twitter Wednesday (July 19). “IMO, this song isn’t promoting violence as some have suggested. It is simply expressing a point of view that many American people share which is against the obvious violence that we have seen from the likes of so many ‘activists groups’ in this country in recent years and the belief shared by millions that this behavior would not be tolerated by many people in many places across the USA. God bless America and all the people in it.”
Tritt added another comment minutes later. “I would also like to remind my friend, @Jason_Aldean that Twitter and social media in general is not a real place. The views shared by many accounts on this platform are not actually representative of the vast majority of the population of this country. Say what you want to say and be who you want to be. Damn the social media torpedoes.”
In another bit of defense, the production company behind the video, TackleBox Films, released a recent statement. In an exclusive note to Entertainment Tonight, video director Shaun Silva’s TackleBox Films stated that Aldean did not choose the filming location. The outlet reports that the company went on to cite multiple music videos and films that had recently been filmed in Columbia, Tennessee, calling it a “popular filming location outside of Nashville.”
“Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false,” the company also says.
In his own defense, Aldean released a statement about the work. “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,” he said on social media. “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.”
What may happen next for Aldean and his supporters, including Tritt, or detractors is anyone’s guess.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Cowart / Aristomedia
