Forget his hit songs, sold-out shows. Keith Urban still thinks he needs to win you over.

This Saturday, country superstar Keith Urban will be bringing his Graffiti U World Tour to Louisville. That night, just like countless other nights on stages across the globe, Urban will be performing for thousands of enthusiastic fans from a musical catalog loaded with hit singles and No. 1 albums.

But every time the Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, and country music guitar hero steps on stage, none of the adoration or accolades are in his head. In fact, he says, it’s quite the opposite.

“I don’t think for one second, they’re all here to see me ... I imagine them all looking at me with their arms crossed like, ‘alright, what you got?’” Urban says. “You’ve got to try to win them over.”

The New Zealand-born artist managed to win people over when he left some initial musical success in Australia to move to Nashville in the mid-1990s. There, he found his footing as a session player and songwriter before gaining success as a solo artist with a knack for scorching guitar solos and incorporating elements into his music that steered country music toward the realm of pop and pop-rock.

One listen to Urban’s latest album “Graffiti U” shows that Urban is only intent on expanding what has become his seemingly signature sound in the country genre. He said the album’s title refers to the studio being a blank canvas he can use to express himself in a variety of colors and forms while connecting to his audience. Even though this is his ninth full-length album over the course of a career that spans more than two decades, he sees every creative project as a new start.

“I don’t deal with expectations of any sort,” he said. “I don’t get too hung up on all of that. I literally just jump in the sandbox and start building s---.”

For this particular album, Urban collaborated with several songwriters who were also producers. That being said, Urban prides himself on his contributions as a producer and executing a continuity from start to finish through various genre shifts, whether it is blending a Merle Haggard “Mama Tried” guitar sample with programmed drums and banjo on album opener “Comin’ Home,” featuring Julia Michaels, the rushing mix of Daft Punk-esque synths and electric guitars on “Gemini,” the slinky bass funk of “Never Comin Down,” the breezy, reggae-indebted “My Wave” or affecting ballads like “Way Too Long” and “Parallel Line,” which was written by pop troubadour Ed Sheerhan and features a sample from Coldplay’s “Everglow.”

“Anybody that works with me knows I paint every rivet on the bridge and I’m very detailed in what I do,” he says. “If I struggle with anything in the studio, I don’t struggle, but if there’s a challenge it’s maintaining a vision of what I hear in my head and staying open to it going in a completely different direction and being better, but not confusing that with losing my way.”

One of the things Urban looks forward to most after completing a new album is taking his new songs out on the road. Now more than 40 shows into his Graffiti U World Tour, Urban said he has a firm grasp on what works for his audience, whether he sneaks in a beloved cover, expands and morphs his newer songs for a live setting or putting a slight but welcome test on fan favorites.

“What’s great about this tour is it’s a very flexible tour. I tinker with it every day,” he says. “I do like to give them a version (of a song) that’s unique so they can feel like they are in the moment.”

Urban said it’s incredible to have his new music be so well-received by fans at this point of his career, whether they are listening to his album or watching him perform live. And if Urban hasn’t quite succeeded in winning a listener over, he certainly still seems intent to put in the work to make that happen.

“I think I’ve got enough experience behind me from playing years and years in clubs that I can connect with you guys,” he says. “I’ll figure it out.”

IF YOU GO

Keith Urban

What: Graffiti U World Tour with special guest Kelsea Ballerini

When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20

Where: KFC Yum! Center 1 Arena Plaza Louisville

Tickets: $20 to $89.50

Phone: 502-690-9000

Online: kfcyumcenter.com, keithurban.net