Keith Urban was busy being Mr. Dad when the 2014 CMA Awards nominees were announced on Wednesday (Sept. 3). The country superstar found out he'd snagged four nominations while driving his girls to school.

"I was dropping the kids at school, and I couldn't respond to the texts because I was driving," he tells USA Today. "It was a great way to start the morning."

Urban's nods include the coveted Entertainer of the Year, an award he won back in 2005. The Australian country singer also got a nomination for his album 'Fuse,' plus Top Male Vocalist and Musical Event for 'We Were Us' with Miranda Lambert.

Urban could tell this new music was hitting his fans differently when he went out on the road after releasing 'Fuse.' "It felt like a very different tour, partly because of this new batch of songs I had to put into the tour and how they connected with the audience," he explains. "That didn't happen to the same degree with the last couple albums."

Clearly, the CMA agrees, as is evident by the singer's strong showing among this year's nominees. In fact, this is the most nominations Urban has gotten in five years. Of course, he credits Lambert for helping him snag one of the nominations.

"I feel like the luckiest son of a gun to have had her on the single," Urban says of 'We Were Us.' "It's a good day for Eric Church, and he's on the record, too."

The 2014 CMA Awards red carpet unrolls on Nov. 5.

Best of Country Music in 2014 (So Far)

More From Taste of Country