Jason Aldean’s divisive ‘Try That in a Small Town’ has been satirized by country singer Adeem the Artist with a cutting parody song, ‘Sundown Town.’
Reading between the lines of country superstar Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” has mostly been up to media commentators and social media participants so far, but one country/Americana singer has taken up the duty of writing a satirical number that spells out some of what Aldean’s critics believe are undertones implicit highly contentious hit.
A criticism that has come Aldean’s way has been that the ominous language of “Try That in a Small Town” echoes the coded or uncoded threats that have historically been associated with the South’s “sundown towns” — places where, in the most dangerous eras of segregation, people of color and other outsiders were advised to get out of before dark. Now the singer known as Adeem the Artist has made that interpretation of Aldean’s “See how far ya get down the road” lyrics explicit with a parody song posted on social media called “Sundown Town.”
Beyond making a statement with the comedic song itself, the singer-songwriter got serious in telling Variety just what they see the Aldean controversy representing. “As far as I can tell,” says the much-heralded singer-songwriter, “the only culture war that exists in country music is between people who believe in a just, equitable world with a little bit of space for all of us to feel safe and welcome and those of us who are so afraid of anything remotely different, they’re willing to sing about hate crimes.”
Adeem introduced the performance on Twitter by joking that the clear spoof was actually a straight cover. “I’m gonna level with you here,” kidded the singer. “I don’t agree with the politics of Jason Aldean in any way, but I got a call from a record executive this morning and they said, ‘He’s trending really well, and if we wanna see some higher impressions and retweets and stuff like that, we oughta do a cover of a Jason Aldean song.
