TackleboxVol. I & II
Two volumes. Eighteen songs. A double-vinyl release. A five-month rollout built like a shoebox of old photos.
Current design for the album.
The Tacklebox — retro guitar case as visual identity.
— Jacob Roth + E.W. Carpenter, 3.29.2026.
The look, established.
Where the early access lives.
One folder on a clean white desktop.
That's it. No hero copy, no email modal, no carousel. A single blue Mac OS folder labeled TACKLEBOX, sitting on white space like it was left there. The marquee at the top — TACKLEBOX — BRAD PAISLEY — TACKLEBOX — BRAD PAISLEY — scrolls across, the only motion on the page.
You click the folder.
Inside: a guitar case full of MP3s.
The folder opens into a sketched guitar-case file browser — same compartmentalized layout as the Tacklebox object. Compartments fill in as more songs unlock. Below it, a finder-style file list: track name, upload date, file size, file type. Plain monospace. No play buttons that look like Spotify.
The gate: click an MP3 → pre-save the album → unlock streaming. One pre-save per volume (Vol I in May, Vol II in July). Returning fans skip the gate entirely.
The Blackout & the First Two Songs
to portal
Instagram goes dark.
delete everything. say nothing.
- Archive every existing post on Brad's grid. (Don't nuke — archive.)
- Update bio to something cryptic. A URL and a date, a single lure emoji, or blank.
- Profile pic → solid black, or a worn texture (weathered tackle lid, faded denim, scratched vinyl).
- No caption. No teaser post. Just the silence.
Optional same-day email to inner circle: “Something's happening. You'll be the first to know. Watch your inbox Saturday.” Seeds FOMO without spoiling the grid reveal.
to portal
One throwback photo.
1998. or 2002. somewhere before all this.
- A single image: kid or teenage Brad. Disposable-camera quality. Holding a guitar, in a truck bed, at a cookout, on a back porch.
- Caption is a year (“1998.”) or a place (“Mom's kitchen.”) or nothing.
- Comments: leave open. Don't reply.
Other channels: None. IG only. Resist the cross-post.
48 hrs before DSP
The portal goes live.
tacklebox.live (or placeholder) — fans stream “This Town” and “Falling” free for 48 hours before DSPs.
- Email subject line: 48 hours early. One paragraph from Brad. Portal link. No GIFs, no footer graphics. Make it feel like a letter.
- Text copy: “Brad here. New song's up early for you. Link: [portal]. 48 hours only.”
- IG post: Second throwback-style image + first Tacklebox aesthetic reveal. Portal + DSP date in caption.
- IG Story: Studio polaroids, a 10-second voice note from Brad on “This Town.”
“This Town” hits DSPs.
- Portal closes for “This Town” (“Falling” stays up two more days).
- Spotify / Apple / etc. links live everywhere.
- IG post: official cover art. Caption is a single lyric. Nothing else.
- Story: reshare early fans who posted from portal listens. UGC amplification.
Breathe.
No feed post. Story-only: behind-the-scenes for “Falling” coming tomorrow. Keep momentum without exhausting it.
“Falling” hits DSPs.
- Portal for “Falling” closes.
- IG post: cover art. Single-lyric caption, as before.
- Email to list: “Two songs out. More coming. Thanks for being early.”
- No text. Save texts for bigger moments.
The Vol. I Waterfall
One rhythm, repeated.
Every single-track drop follows this cadence. It's the engine of the whole rollout.
| T-Minus | Action |
|---|---|
| 48 hrs before DSP | Portal opens (free stream) · Email · IG announce post |
| 24 hrs before DSP | IG Story teaser — lyric card, clip, or throwback image |
| DSP drop day | IG post w/ cover art · one-line caption · Email |
| +1 day | Story reshares of fan UGC from portal listeners |
The track-by-track.
- 5/4 “This Town” #1 portal 5/2
- 5/6 “Falling” #2 portal 5/4
- 5/8 Track #3 waterfall portal 5/6
- 5/13 Track #4 portal 5/11
- 5/19 Track #5 portal 5/17
- 5/29 Track #6 + Vol. I pre-order portal 5/27
- 6/3 Track #7 portal 6/1
- 6/11 Track #8 portal 6/9
- 6/26 Track #9 · Vol. I Full Release portal 6/24
Vol. I pre-order — double vinyl available.
First time fans can put money down on the physical record. Coordinate with the label fulfillment team.
- 10 AM CT simultaneous drop: email + community text + IG.
- IG carousel (5–7 slides): vinyl photography → tracklist → variant options → pre-order CTA.
- Tier strategy: standard 2LP black · numbered color variant · signed edition. Each tier is its own marketing beat across the rollout.
- Indie record store exclusive variant announced same day — different colorway, available only at independent shops. Lock by 5/22 plant deadline.
"Songs from the basement" — the influences playlist.
a Spotify playlist of what was in the CD player.
Three days before Vol. I drops, Brad releases an official Spotify playlist of the songs that shaped this record — the music he was actually listening to in the late 90s and early 2000s when these songs were forming. Not a "best of the era" — a personal mix. The Wallflowers next to Tom Petty next to Counting Crows next to a Steve Earle deep cut next to whatever was on the radio driving back from his first Nashville session.
- Length: 25–35 tracks. Long enough to feel like a real listening session, short enough to actually finish.
- Naming: something specific and personal. "What was in the CD player — 1998–2003" or "Songs from the basement" or "Before I knew anything." Not "Brad's 90s Mix" — that's marketing-speak and kills the mood.
- Cover art: a photo of an actual CD wallet, half-zipped, discs visible. Same shoebox aesthetic as the rest of the rollout.
- Liner note (Spotify description): 3–4 sentences, first-person, from Brad. "These are the songs I was actually listening to when most of Tacklebox was getting written. Some are obvious. Some make no sense. All of them are in there somewhere."
- Companion email: short note to the list with the playlist link + one paragraph from Brad about a single specific song on it (a memory, a story, why it mattered). The personal anchor is the whole point.
- IG carousel: 5–6 slides, each one a track + a hand-written line from Brad about why it's there. Reads like a mixtape liner-card insert.
Press hook: Pitch this exclusively to one outlet that drops Tuesday morning — Stereogum, Aquarium Drunkard, or Rolling Stone Country. They get the playlist + a Brad quote about one song. Their piece runs Tuesday, the playlist goes public same hour, the album drops Friday. Three connected beats in one week.
Vol. I is out.
- Portal becomes a full-album early stream (48 hrs starting 6/24).
- IG: album cover + tracklist carousel.
- Email: personal note from Brad, link to full album.
- Text: “Vol 1 is out. Vol 2 coming this fall. Case ships in September. Love, B.”
- IG Live: 30-min acoustic run-through, 8 PM CT. Low production. Him, a guitar, a porch.
Vol. II & the Physical Payoff
Same pattern, second wave.
- 7/20 Track #10 portal 7/18
- 7/22 Track #11 waterfall portal 7/20
- 7/24 Track #12 portal 7/22
- 7/29 Track #13 portal 7/27
- 8/4 Track #14 portal 8/2
- 8/14 Track #15 + Vol. II pre-order portal 8/12
- 8/20 Track #16 portal 8/18
- 8/25 Track #17 portal 8/23
- 9/4 Track #18 · Vol. II Release · Vinyl Ships portal 9/2
Vinyl pre-order, round two.
Vol. II pre-order opens. May orders haven't shipped yet (those wait for the 9/4 release), so this is purely additive — fans who missed Vol. I can grab the full set.
- Bundle option: Vol. I + II together at a small discount over buying separately.
- Indie record store variant for Vol. II announced — different colorway from Vol. I to drive complete-the-set behavior.
- Test pressing giveaway: 5–10 numbered, signed test pressings to the most engaged fans on the email list. Costs nothing, generates loyalty.
- If any "first 500" or "first 1,000" tier sold through on Vol. I, mention it here as social proof.
Vol. II digital · Vol. I + II vinyl · Records ship.
- Portal opens 9/2 for full Vol. II early stream (48 hrs).
- Double vinyl ships to every pre-order — May and August waves both.
- Email: long letter from Brad. First long-form note to the list in the whole rollout.
- Text: "It's done. Both volumes are out. Vinyl shipping today. Thank you for 5 months of early."
- IG: still-life carousel of the vinyl with the Tacklebox visual world — sleeve photography that nests the records inside the case-compartment metaphor.
- Press: pitch No Depression, Rolling Stone Country, American Songwriter in mid-August for embargoed 9/4 features.
How the engine runs underneath.
Email List
Cadence~2× per week during active rollout. Portal days + release days.
VoiceShort. Letter-like. Plain text or minimal design. Brad in first person.
GrowthPortal signup is email signup. Gate the free stream behind an email.
Community Text
ToolCommunity, Laylo, or similar.
CadenceFive texts across five months. 5/2 · 5/29 · 6/26 · 8/14 · 9/4.
VoiceLike a friend updating you. Never marketing-speak.
Instagram, After
GridShoebox / photo-album feel throughout. Disposable camera. Faded color. Scanned polaroids. Notebook paper.
AvoidBright gradient graphics. Motion-designer carousels. Anything that looks branded.
Lean intoKid-Brad photos, real/mocked gig flyers, handwritten lyrics.
Reels & TikTok
PhilosophyLight touch. Don't force dance content.
Best betsPorch acoustic clips, studio b-roll w/ a 90s song behind it, "what I was listening to when I wrote this" POVs.
CadenceOne clip per single, max. Quality over quantity.
The Portal Itself
FeelA black page, a lure graphic, a play button, an email field. Should feel like a hidden room. Not a marketing funnel.
TrackSignups, plays, repeat visits, geo data (feeds tour routing later).
What we're not doing.
- Countdown timers on IG. The blackout does the same job with more taste.
- Influencer seeding before 5/2. This is fan-first. Tastemakers come in the Vol. II push.
- Paid IG ads on early singles. Save paid for 6/26 release week and 9/4 vinyl drop.
- Full press push before Vol. I. Let the music and the portal build the story. Pitch press in August.
- Branded graphics or lyric-video templates. Off-brand for the aesthetic.
- Cross-posting the throwback photo. IG-only. Don't dilute the moment.
Key Dates.
the whole thing, at a glance| Date | Moment | Channels |
|---|---|---|
| 4/30 | IG blackout | IG |
| 5/1 | Throwback post | IG |
| 5/2 | Portal opens · full announce | Email · Text · IG |
| 5/4 | “This Town” DSP | IG · Email |
| 5/6 | “Falling” DSP | IG · Email |
| 5/8 – 5/19 | Waterfall singles 3–5 | Email · IG per track |
| 5/29 | Vol. I vinyl pre-order opens + Track 6 | Email · Text · IG |
| 6/23 | 90s influences playlist drops | Spotify · Email · IG · Press |
| 6/26 | Vol. I Release | Email · Text · IG Live |
| 7/20 – 8/25 | Vol. II waterfall singles | Email · IG per track |
| 8/14 | Vol. II pre-order + Track 15 | Email · Text · IG |
| 9/4 | Vol. II Release · Vinyl Ships | Email · Text · IG · Press |