Jason Aldean Connects ‘Try That in a Small Town’ to Boston Marathon Bombing: ‘Not About Race’

usmagazine.com:

Jason Aldean continued to double down on his defense of his song “Try That in a Small Town” with an argument tailor-made to his Boston fans.The 46-year-old country singer took the stage in Massachusetts on Saturday, July 29, as part of his Highway Desperado tour and thanked his devotees for standing by his side amid the public backlash.

Before playing his controversial tune — which catapulted to the top of the charts despite widespread criticism — Aldean reflected on the strength of the Boston community.“I was lying in bed last night and thinking to myself, you guys would get this better than anybody, right?” he said in social media footage from the concert, claiming his song’s intended message has been “overshadowed by all the bulls–t.”Aldean paced across the stage as he continued: “I remember a time, I think it was April of 2013, when the Boston Marathon bombings happened.

You guys remember this, right? What I saw when that happened was, not a small town — a big ass town — come together. … The whole country, especially Boston, came together to find these two pricks that did that.

Any of you guys that would’ve found those guys before the cops did, I know you guys from Boston, and you guys would’ve beat the s–t out of [them].”Aldean argued that “Try That in a Small Town” is “not about race,” shutting down the negative reviews of his music. “It’s about people getting their s–t together [and] acting right,” he said. “You’re hearing from the person that made the record.