$283K in Revenue. One Concept. Built from Scratch.

The Brief: No label. No marketing budget. No existing audience in new markets. The challenge was to take an original creative concept — Midwest Country, the sound and feeling of summertime in small lake towns — and build it into a fully commercial product across music, merchandise, live experience, and brand.

The Insight: Place is an underused brand asset in country music. Everyone claims the South. Nobody owned the Midwest — the lakes, the small towns, the specific texture of a summer that people from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan feel in their bones. Watertown Summers wasn't a record. It was a brand identity with a record at the center of it.

The Execution: Conceived the project end-to-end and directed every creative discipline simultaneously — songwriting collaborators, music producers, photographers, videographers, content creators, marketing agencies, ad agencies, PR firms, a merchandise print operation, and a live touring team. Every asset, from the EP artwork to the merch graphics to the social campaign, was designed in-house.

Launched with a live recording event in Las Vegas. Toured the album across WI, IL, FL, CA, and TN — sold-out shows in every market.

The Outcome: 3M streams across Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music. $103K in merchandise revenue from original designs. $180K in touring revenue. Total project revenue: $283K+ on an independent budget. Two Josie Music Award nominations — Entertainer of the Year and Country Artist of the Year.

Role: Creative Director, Brand Architect, Music Supervisor

Teams Managed: Music Production, Content, Photography, Videography, Animation, Print & Merchandise, PR, Marketing, Tour & Live Production