Luke Combs might be an award-winning singer and songwriter, but his favorite role is being a father. The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year and his wife Nicole welcomed his firstborn son, Tex, into the world in June, immediately changing Combs’ life, in every way, for the better.

“I think the thing that blew me away is, there’s a whole new level of love that is unlocked with a child,” Combs tells SiriusXM’s The Highway. “It’s different from the love you have for your wife. It’s a different kind of love. As a dad, you don’t have that instant bond with a child, like the mother does. That’s a chemical thing that happens. It takes getting through those first couple of months, [which] are difficult for dads, way more difficult for mom. You feel helpless, like, ‘How can I help? How can I do anything?’  As your child starts to smile, laugh, and recognize you when you come in the room, it’s like, it just all unveils itself.”

Combs isn’t always able to be at home, due to his busy touring career. But when he is, he says he is completely hands-on, including diaper changes, dropping off at day care, and more. Still, even when he’s gone, the North Carolina native feels connected to his baby boy, thanks in part to technology.

“I think the thing that blew me away most was how much of a serotonin dump there is, just looking at a picture of him on my phone or getting a picture from my wife or a little video of my wife,” Combs acknowledges. “It just makes my whole day. It can make you feel instantly amazing just seeing them in their little chair, bouncing around or whatever they are doing. It’s amazing, something so simple. It almost feels like in a way that I am a kid again, because there aren’t things when you’re 30 years old that are just so small of things that can make you so gratified and so happy. I think a child’s laughter or a smile from your kid, it just melts you.”

Combs, whose current single, “Going, Going, Gone” is in the Top 5, just released a brand-new song. “Love You Anyway” was released last week, from Combs’ forthcoming  Gettin’ Old album, out on March 24.

“Valentine’s Day 2020. I was playing a show and had dedicated ‘Beautiful Crazy’ to Nicole and said, ‘If you’re in here (the arena), I love you. If not, you know I do anyway,’” Combs writes. “Unknown to me, my buddy Dan wrote down ‘Love You Anyway’ as a title in his phone after hearing that, then he told me the story later that month when he and I were writing with my good friend Ray Fulcher.

“We loved the idea as a title and decided to write about loving someone so much that even if you knew from the beginning they were going to break your heart, you’d love them anyway,” he continues. “It came off very poetic and we wanted to find the words that could really give meaning to what we were trying to say, but as we say in the song, we didn’t know if there were deep enough words made for that.”

Combs added that “Love You Anyway” is both a “heartbreak and love song all in one,” inspired by both Nicole and a song he wrote a few years ago for yer.

“Long story short, me dedicating a song I wrote about Nicole ended up turning into another song about Nicole, and now three years later the song is finally out at the same time of year,” Combs says. “It’s a special one to me and I hope y’all love it as much as I do.”

Combs will embark on his World Tour in March 25 in Arlington, Texas, and will play in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and more, before wrapping up on October 19 in the UK. Riley Green, Lainey Wilson, Flatland Cavalry and Brent Cobb will serve as the opening acts for some dates, with Cody Johnson and Lane Pittman taking over opening act duties for some of the overseas dates as well.

Find “Love You Anyway,” and all of Combs’ music, as well as a list of his upcoming shows, at  LukeCombs.com.