(NewsNation Now) — Country music star Thomas Rhett’s new song is different from anything he’s ever written before — so he’s excited to perform it for the first time at the Academy of Country Music Awards this Monday.

“I’m working on some really cool tricks for that song that night, and I think it’s going to be enjoyable to watch,” Rhett told NewsNation’s “Morning in America.”

Rhett, nominated for male artist of the year and album of the year, said he wrote the song, “Slowdown Summer” a year and a half ago with the help of some good friends.

“It was very unique,” he said.

Rhett said his new album “Where We Started,” which comes out in April, will take people on a “crazy emotional journey, from making you want to cry to making you want to dance to making you want to just put a beer in the air.”

The album has already been vetted by his family, wife Lauren and four young daughters.

“My kids are and my wife has always been such a huge inspiration in my music-making process,” Rhett said. “If my kids don’t like a song, then it’s probably not going to make it on the record.”

When he drives his older two children to school, Rhett will play his music demo for them to try to gauge their reaction. If they’re bobbing their heads and know the words after listening to a catchy tune a few times, then he’ll know that song’s a winner.

But for slower songs, Rhett said, they only have one question: Was the song about them?

“If I say, ‘Well, no, that one wasn’t,’ then they’re like, ‘I don’t really like it then,'” Rhett said.

Recently, Rhett was in a Fritos commercial, the company’s first one in 20 years. That really impressed the singer-songwriter’s kids.

“We watched it probably 50 times in a row,” Rhett said.

His younger kids do get a little confused when they see their dad on the big screen, though.

“Lennon, she’s 2 years old, and so any time she sees me, like on an award show, any time I play a music video, and especially for this Fritos commercial we just did, she looks at the screen, then she looks at me,” Rhett said. “She doesn’t understand how I’m in two places at once.”

For parents, Rhett said, it’s important to embrace the time spent with their kids while they have it and “cherish those really sweet moments.”

“In that infant stage, there are definitely nights at 2 in the morning when you’re up, rocking or feeding or putting a pacifier back in the mouth …. (where you’re like) ‘Man, I’m exhausted,'” Rhett said. “But at the end of the day, you wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Being a parent, Rhett said, is one of the most special things he’s gotten to do.

“I just really love getting to watch them grow, and I can’t wait to see who they become,” he said.

Hosted by Dolly Parton, Jimmie Allen and  Gabby Barrett, Monday’s Academy of Country Music Awards show will be livestreamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Video starting at 8 p.m. ET.