Urban released his fifth studio album, "Defying Gravity," last month. The record earned the country star his first No. 1 debut on The Billboard 200; two previous albums--2004's "Be Here" and 2006's "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing"--peaked at No. 3. Two of the album's singles--"Sweet Thing" and "Kiss a Girl"--have taken turns occupying the top slot on the Hot Country Songs chart since the album's release three weeks ago.

The country crooner told Billboard.com recently how excited he is about the impending tour and about getting down into the audience.

"I think its going to be a blast, particularly because I'm going to put a lot of songs from this album into the set because it's a predominantly up-tempo record, which makes for a great live show. I'm always trying for more connectiveness with the audience. I'm trying to get down among the audience and have them feel like they're part of the thing, and to keep it spontaneous every night because everybody tends to like surprises."

Urban is nominated for three CMT Music Awards this year: Male Video of the Year for "Sweet Thing," Collaborative Video of the Year for "Start a Band" with Brad Paisley and CMT Performance of the Year for "Raise the Barn" with Brooks & Dunn. Fans can vote now through May 11 at CMT's website. Results will be broadcast June 17 from the Nashville awards ceremony.