As he was about to embark on his latest tour, Taylor Goldsmith – frontman of folk rock band Dawes – joked that going on the road “is going to be a vacation”. In fact, he and his wife, actor and singer-songwriter Mandy Moore, just welcomed a baby girl into their family, which means they now have three children ages 3 and under. “It’s insane,” he said in a recent phone call from his home in Los Angeles. “But we are very lucky. My wife is a super human and we have lots of family and the best nanny ever. Goldsmith said that while it will be emotionally difficult to be away from his family and “everyone will miss him dearly,” he is looking forward to catching up on his sleep. The band’s “Oh Brother Tour,” which kicked off Nov. 7 in Knoxville, Tennessee, and lands in Boston at Roadrunner on Nov. 22, follows the release of Dawes’ ninth album. In some ways, Goldsmith, 39, said it feels like the band’s first album. “Two of our members – one of whom was a founding member – left last year, so we went from a quartet to a duo (Goldsmith and his brother Griffin) and that changed the dynamic,” said the native of Los Angeles. “It was scary, obviously, but also in an exciting way. … It just felt like the start of a new phase. I have always been a bass player. I’ve always been a keyboard player… but I haven’t played these (instruments because) we’ve always had these guys in the band and so now all of a sudden I’m exploring and expanding ‘a new way as a musician. , and yes, I feel like we have a different philosophy now. In that sense, it feels like a debut record. …It’s definitely one that feels exciting and uncomfortable. We caught up with Goldsmith, who lives in Los Angeles with Moore, their three children, two dogs and three cats, to talk all things travel.

If you could travel anywhere right now, where would you go? I have always felt a certain connection with Spain. I’ve been to six or seven different cities and each one is a universe in itself. But one major commonality is how welcoming the place is to an American like me. It’s been too long since I’ve been there, so I can’t wait to come back.

Do you prefer to book your trips through a travel agency or on your own?As a musician, a travel agent tends to help us find the best options. Being my wife’s husband, she seems to have a real gift for this too. So between the two scenarios, I don’t feel like I book a trip too often.

Are you thinking of an “unplugged” vacation? Does that mean no phone/technology/work? That sounds lovely, but we have three kids, the eldest of whom isn’t even 4 yet, so being really unavailable right now seems a little scary. If they’re all with me, that’s a different story. A friend pointed out to me yesterday that among our thousands of generations of Homo sapiens, there have only been a few where we were so reachable and accessible. We don’t seem quite evolutionarily adapted yet, which explains the collective anxiety, in my opinion. But even that said, now that parenthood these days is established in our lives as a situation in which a parent is always reachable, I can’t imagine going back — even if I’m 2,000 miles away on vacation.

What was your worst vacation experience? My wife loves hiking, so in December 2019 we decided to spend the holidays hiking in the mountains of Ecuador. Something we both ate for breakfast the first day didn’t sit well with us and we both got extremely sick. I ended up going home on Christmas Day, weak and exhausted. I hope to return one day because we both loved what little we saw.

What is your favorite childhood travel memory? I was a basic guy who loved hotel pools and room service. We didn’t take many family vacations, but when we did, the priority was always relaxation and I wasn’t cultured or curious enough to be above that.

Are you going on vacation to relax, to learn or for adventure? Like I said, my wife is a hiker, so if it’s that kind of trip, I’m more than happy to enjoy the great outdoors. But personally, I always look for time to read. I don’t mind if it stops me from exploring every corner of a new place. Reading Somerset Maugham’s travel writings, he explained that he would not force himself to fill his schedule with tourist or traveler type activities. If he stayed in a hotel all the time, he would still trust that impression of his stay in a place as much as if he had walked every block. The reality is that the time and space we travel through in any location on vacation is so specific to us that any opinions we are left with are highly subjective. So rather than forcing myself to “know” a place I’m vacationing, I just focus on what I want, even if that means staying there. This usually leads to a warmer relationship with the place I’m visiting. This may seem silly to some, but that’s how I see it right now.

What book are you planning to take with you to read on your next vacation? With our youngest of three children currently being 4 weeks old, I can’t imagine when we will take our next vacation. And even when we do, I can’t imagine a ton of reading time. But I will say that for our next tour – which will be three weeks on a bus with lots of downtime – I plan to bring with me a nice big book by William Vollmann. He’s one of my favorite writers, but his books are always so thick that I’m afraid to open them unless I’ve booked a tour or trip.

If you could travel with any famous person/celebrity, who would it be? Hunter S. Thompson? He seemed to have a real gift for uncovering the dark undercurrents of a community. Joni Mitchell? Listening to a lot of his music again, I realize that a lot of it has to do with his travels. She seemed to find the most authentic people and experiences and had the keenest eye for drawing wisdom and insight from all of these experiences.

What is the best gift to give a traveler? A notebook. I’m not good at journaling, but when I’ve traveled and been able to write down certain experiences or impressions, it somehow brings the experience more to life. This is something I wish I had done more for myself. Some of my favorite writing is travel writing. It’s like you’re engaging in a pretty uplifting hobby and I just feel like it helps you keep your travels with you and kind of helps activate your brain.

What is your favorite snack for a flight or road trip? Dried turkey and cashews. I’ve also gotten my pour over coffee equipment to the point where I sometimes brew a cup during a flight. This might make some other drivers jealous, but I don’t care.

What’s the coolest souvenir you bought on vacation? I’m bad at this. Probably just a few UK editions of books I like or a few clothes from Japan.

What did the trip teach you? To quote Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, intolerance, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our citizens sorely need it for these reasons.” »

What is your best travel tip? Have as few expectations as possible. The more open someone can be to how the journey will turn out, the richer the experience by far.

Juliet Pennington can be reached at [email protected].