Take me through your morning.

[My publicist] woke me up. My wife said, ‘Who the [expletive] is calling you at 7:30?’ She told me the news and we just kind of stayed in bed for a while. I was trying to wrap my head around what this even means and looking back on everything. It’s extremely humbling. I went downstairs and made pancakes and watched ‘Sesame Street’ with my son. That was pretty much it.

The Grammys are often derided for being out of touch, but this year, the big categories skew younger and more pop. People see your name in there and are already calling you the potential protest vote. How does it feel to be held up as the ‘authentic’ one among a lot of big pop albums?

Man, I haven’t even gotten that far. I don’t really know how all of it works. I just went in and poured my heart out and tried to make the best record that I possibly could. I didn’t expect anything like this, ever. I don’t really feel like I did this, in a way. Maybe it’s a lot of people reacting and showing that art is important. I’m just grateful. I really can’t believe it. To be even mentioned in the same breath as all those other artists is a little surreal for someone like me.

Are those albums that you’ve listened to?

I loved ‘Lemonade.’ I thought it was genius. I love the Adele record. I really, really wish, honestly, and no [expletive] — I would’ve liked to see Frank Ocean’s name where mine is. But that’s not my place to say. I totally understand [his protest]. I just thought that record [‘Blonde’] was really groundbreaking. I listen to just about everything except country music, so it’s strange.

This year you had a dispute with the Academy of Country Music and put your foot down and said you’re not going to play the games Nashville wants you to play to be a part of the establishment. What does it mean now that you’re representing Nashville on the even larger stage that is the Grammys?