Brad Paisley's new album was officially released on Tuesday (Aug. 26) by Sony Music Nashville. But unofficially? Well unofficially, it was released days before that by the funny man himself.

More than a week before Paisley's tenth studio album, 'Moonshine in the Trunk' hit stores, the singer started releasing its tracks in creative ways. There was the 'Limes' video with comedic web series Annoying Orange. Then there was Ellen Degeneres revealing the powerful lyric video for 'Shattered Glass' via Twitter. And there was even an actual astronaut in actual space who unleashed 'American Flag on the Moon.' Despite the problems it may have caused for his label, Paisley says he released 'Moonshine in the Trunk' just the way he wanted to.

"Why did I leak the new album? That's a good question," says the 'River Bank' singer in a video on Facebook. "It really came down to me wanting to present these songs to the world in the best way possible. In a way that made it fun to hear them for the first time. In a way that sort of encompassed everything they're about."

Paisley went on to say that leaking the album like he did meant that he would get to be the person to present it to the world and explain his intent behind songs that he spent a great deal of time and energy producing himself. Plus, he says it was just a lot of fun.

"I gotta admit, I'm going to miss leaking 'Moonshine,'" the star admits. "But now that it's out, I get to go play these songs live. And I think there's probably a bunch of fun stuff I can still do on the internet now that we have this little understanding between us."

Fans can find 'Moonshine in the Trunk' in stores now ... and pretty much everywhere online, thanks to Paisley. And if you like it, go on and tell him -- at his personal email address! In response to the singer's shenanigans, a Sony Music CEO released his personal email address in the most hilarious studio backlash in the history of the country music industry.

Best of Country Music in 2014 (So Far)

More From Cat Country 102.9