Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and LeVar Burton also called out the country singer in the aftermath of controversy

Sheryl Crow is not pulling any punches in response to Jason Aldean‘s controversial video and lyrics for new single, “Try That in a Small Town.” In a post on Twitter, Crow asserts that the singer is out of step with the public mood and should know better.

“I’m from a small town,” Crow wrote. “Even people in small towns are sick of violence. There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting. This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame.”

Crow’s response quotes a viral post from Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts, which points out the irony that Aldean himself was in a mass shooting.

.@Jason_Aldean I’m from a small town. Even people in small towns are sick of violence.There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting.This is not American or small town-like. It’s just lame https://t.co/cuOtUO9xjr

— Sheryl Crow (@SherylCrow) July 19, 2023

Jason Isbell also shared a post on Twitter reacting to Aldean’s lyrics. “Daring Aldean to write his next single himself. That’s what we try in our small town,” Isbell wrote in a post. Dare Aldean wrote his next single himself. That’s what we try in my small town — Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 19, 2023 Earlier that day, Margo Price tweeted that Aldean was “a clown” and retweeted a photo of the country singer dressed in black at a Halloween party.

Aldean originally released “Try That in a Small Town” in May 2023. It went largely unnoticed until last week when it entered cultural discussions after Aldean and director Shaun Silva released a video for the song featuring the country music star performing in front of an audience. a courthouse – believed to be in Columbia, Tennessee, the site of a 1933 lynching – and interspersed with footage depicting the protests as violent and lawless.

Backlash against the video, the song, and Aldean himself was swift, culminating in CMT, the country music cable network, pulling the music video from its rotation. (A representative for CMT confirmed to Rolling Stone that the video is no longer airing.)

Aldean responded to the criticism on Tuesday with a lengthy post on social media.

“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,” Aldean wrote. “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 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.”

In his post, Aldean explained his interpretation of the song, written by Kelley Lovelace, Kurt Allison, Neil Thrasher, and Tully Kennedy and produced by Aldean’s longtime producer Michael Knox.

“‘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,” he wrote. “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 one day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to – that’s what this song is about.”