Jason Aldean & Songwriters Celebrate ‘Try That In A Small Town’

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Pictured (L-R, back row): Michael Knox, Kelley Lovelace and Neil Thrasher; (L-R, front row): Kurt Allison, Jason Aldean and Tully Kennedy. Photo: Steve Lowry for BMI

Jason Aldean and his team gathered last week to celebrate his latest chart-topper, “Try That In A Small Town.” The song became Aldean’s 28th No. 1 hit on the country charts, and his first chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 all-genre chart last summer.

Held at the Eighth Room in the old Douglas Corner spot, the party was emceed by BMI’s Clay Bradley. Bradley welcomed the crowd by sharing words about the controversial song and its impact.

Pictured (L-R, back row): Michael Knox, Red Street Publishing’s Jay DeMarcus, Kelley Lovelace, Neil Thrasher, Spirit Music Group’s Frank Rogers and BBR Music Group’s Lee Adams; (L-R, front row): BMI’s Clay Bradley, BMG Publishing’s Amy Hendon Scott, Kurt Allison, Jason Aldean, Tully Kennedy, Studio Bank’s Ron Cox and ASCAP’s Kele Currier. Photo: Steve Lowry for BMI

“In essence, small towns mirror the camaraderie of Music Row, where familiarity breeds a sense of unity amidst the spectrum of human experiences. This song encapsulates the essence of small town life where everyone knows each other,” he said.

Bradley called Aldean and producer Michael Knox to the stage as well as the writers of “Try That In A Small Town,” Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, Kelley Lovelace and Neil Thrasher.

ASCAP’s Kele Currier was on hand to speak about affiliates Allison, Lovelace and Thrasher. Other industry members present to speak about the song and its writers were Knox, BMG’s Amy Hendon Scott, Red Street Publishing’s Jay DeMarcus, Spirit Music Group’s Frank Rogers, BBR Music Group’s Lee Adams and Studio Bank’s Ron Cox.

The common sentiment between speakers was respect for Aldean, the songwriters and his camp for their steadfast commitment to the song and its message, despite the backlash it received. When it came time for the songwriters to speak, they echoed that sentiment, and thanked their teams for their support.

“I’m incredibly thankful to you, Jason, for recording this song,” Lovelace shared. “This is the biggest song I’ve ever been a part of in my entire life. I’m thankful.”

Thrasher said, “I want to thank [my co-writers] because 99.9 percent of the writers in this town never would have even attempted to write that title or take it where we took it.” He added, “I’m supposed to be retired right now. We had to write this song and now I’m working harder than I ever have.”

Pictured (L-R, back row): Michael Knox, Kelley Lovelace and Neil Thrasher; (L-R, front row): MusicRow‘s John Nix Arledge, Kurt Allison, Jason Aldean, Tully Kennedy and MusicRow‘s LB Cantrell. Photo: Steve Lowry for BMI

“I do want to say how important it is to have an artist like Jason in this format,” Kennedy said. “He will go up there and stand by his beliefs. If you’re afraid to do that, then we’ve lost the art part. Thank you so much, Jason, for giving this song a voice when it wasn’t easy and not everybody was believing… It means a lot that Jason would put it out and stand by what he says. We should all be very thankful about that.”

Allison agreed. “Tully brought this up in an interview earlier. We kind of felt like Jason wrote the song with us because he owned it like it was his. When all this heat was happening, he didn’t deflect [onto us songwriters],” he said. “We should be thankful that we have an artist like that who believes.”

When Aldean spoke, he thanked his entire team and spoke about his intentions with “Try That In A Small Town.”

“I love every time we get to celebrate a No. 1, but this one is especially special to all of us,” he said. “[I’m thankful to] radio for playing this thing when everybody was trying to turn it into this crazy story. We stand by the song and what we were trying to say in the song and the video. Those things are subjective. You’re always going to have people who see different things in the song and the video than what was meant by us.

“We took a lot of heat for this song but I would do it 100 times over again because I think this song said something that needed to be said,” he summed.

Aldean thanked BBR, Knox, the songwriters and his entire team for their work in making “Try That In A Small Town” a hit.

LB Cantrell
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