Joe Nichols' baby girl, Dylan, turned one last week and for the singer, every day with her has been a joy.

"The biggest learning experience for me has been just how happy she makes me," Joe tells The Boot. "Even the stuff I shouldn't get joy out of, like changing diapers, or like when she does something incredibly embarrassing in a store. Anything like that, I get joy out of. I think that surprises me. I see a lot of parents, including my own as a little kid, that can get really annoyed really fast. She can't annoy me. I love that."

Joe has a 14-year old daughter from a previous marriage and his relationship with Dylan has made him see the earlier years of that relationship in a different, wistful light. "I was 21 when my older daughter was born and I didn't get to do a lot of things that I can do now with [Dylan] and I regret that deeply," he says. "Just spending time with her on the floor, playing, doing anything that she wants to do. That's the kind of stuff that I should have done back then."

But for now, Joe is looking ahead instead of back. He's signed to new label Red Bow Records, an imprint within the Broken Bow Records family, home to that label's flagship artist, Jason Aldean. Joe is in the studio with a number of producers, including Tony Brown and producer/songwriter Derek George.

"Fans are going to hear a new sound from me," says the singer. "A very progressive sound. My voice is always going to sound traditional country. We can take some chances and step out of our comfort zone a little bit with tracks here and there, but it's still going to sound like me."

Fans can hear for themselves by listening to Joe's brand-new single, "Sunny and 75." He says the new tune "sounds as if Journey were to cut a country song and I were to cover that country song."

A release date for Joe's new album has yet to be announced. Listen to the exclusive online premiere of "Sunny and 75" here.

More From TheBoot