Did Jason Aldean Write ‘Try That In A Small Town?’

Since Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” song and video became a matter of concern a few days ago, a lot of people have weighed in. Jason Isbell raised an interesting point, though, about who actually wrote the song.

On July 19, Isbell tweeted, “Dare Aldean to write his next single himself. That’s what we try in my small town.” He later added in subsequent tweets, “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,” and, “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.”

Indeed, it does not appear that Aldean had a hand in writing “Try That In A Small Town”: listed as writers of the song in the Spotify credits are Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher, and Tully Kennedy, none of whom are Jason Aldean.

Aldean recently said of the song’s meaning, “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.”