The VIP Lounge with Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith

As he was about to embark on his latest tour, Taylor Goldsmith – frontman of the folk-rock band Dawes – joked that hitting the road is “going to be a vacation.” That’s because he and his wife, actor and singer-songwriter Mandy Moore, just welcomed a baby girl into their family, meaning they now have three children ages three and under. “It’s crazy,” he said recently in a phone call from his home in Los Angeles. “But we are very lucky. My wife is a super person and we just have a lot of family and the best babysitter ever.” Goldsmith said that while it will be emotionally difficult to be away from his family and he will “miss everyone very much,” he is looking forward to catching up on some 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. But 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 it changed the dynamic,” the Los Angeles native said . “It was scary, of course, but also in a way that was exciting. … It just felt like the beginning of a new phase. I’ve always been a bass player. I’ve always been a keyboard player… but I haven’t played those instruments because we always had those guys in the band and now all of a sudden I’m exploring and stretching as a musician in a new way, and yeah, it just feels like we now have a different ethos. In that sense it feels like a first album. … This is definitely an experience that feels tense 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 bond with Spain. I’ve been to six or seven different cities and each city is a universe unto itself. But one big similarity is how welcoming the whole place feels to an American like me. It’s been too long since I’ve been there so I’m eager to get back.

Do you prefer to book your trips through a travel agency or yourself?As musicians, a travel agent often helps us figure out the best options. As my wife’s husband, she seems to have a real gift for it too. So between the two scenarios, I find myself not booking trips that often.

Are you thinking of an “unplugged” holiday? Does this mean no phones/technology/work? It sounds great, but we have three children, the oldest of which is not yet four, so it feels a bit scary to really not be available right now. If they’re all with me, then it’s a different story. A friend pointed out to me yesterday that in our thousands of generations as Homo sapiens, there have only been a few where we have been so reachable and so accessible. Evolutionarily speaking, we don’t seem completely adapted to it yet, which in my opinion explains the collective fear. But even that said, now that parenthood has become ingrained in our lives as an always-on-parent situation, I can’t imagine going back again — even if I’m on vacation 2,000 miles away.

What was your worst holiday experience? My wife loves hiking, so in December 2019 we decided we would spend the holidays hiking in the mountains in Ecuador. We didn’t like something we both ate for breakfast the first day and we both got very sick. I ended up flying home on Christmas Day, weak and exhausted. I hope to go back someday as we both enjoyed the little bit we saw.

What is your favorite travel memory from your youth? I was a simple boy who loved the 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 holiday to relax, to learn or for adventure? Like I said, my wife is a hiker, so when it’s a trip like that, I’m more than happy to enjoy the outdoors. But personally, I’m always looking for time to read. I don’t care if that keeps me from exploring every corner of a new place. When he read Somerset Maugham’s travelogues, he said he wouldn’t force himself to fill his schedule with tourist or traveler-like activities. If he stayed in a hotel all the time, he would still rely on the impression of his time in a place as much as if he had walked every square block. The reality is that the time and space we spend in any place during a holiday is so specific to us that any opinion we retain is highly subjective. So instead of putting pressure on myself to “know” the place I’m vacationing in, I actually just focus on doing what I want — even if that means staying there. That usually leads to a warmer relationship with wherever I go. That may sound strange 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? As our youngest of three is now four weeks old, I can’t imagine when we will next go on holiday. And even if we do, I can’t imagine much reading time. But I will say that for our next tour – which will be three weeks on a bus with a lot of downtime – I plan to take 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 a trip.

If you could travel with one famous person/celebrity, who would it be? Hunter S. Thompson? It seemed like he had a real talent for finding the dark undercurrent of a community. Joni Mitchell? Listening to a lot of her music again, I realize that a lot of it has to do with her travels. She seemed to find the most genuine people and experiences and had the keenest eye for drawing wisdom and insight from all those experiences.

What is the best gift to give a traveler? A notebook. I’m not good at keeping a diary, but when I’ve traveled and been able to write down certain experiences or impressions, it brings the experience more alive in a way. It’s something I wish I did more for myself. Some of my favorite writings are travel writings. It’s like engaging in quite an uplifting pastime and I feel like it helps you keep track of your travels and turns your brain on a bit.

What’s your go-to snack for a flight or road trip? Turkey Jerky and cashews. I’ve also got my coffee gear down to the point where I sometimes make a cup during a flight. It might make some fellow pilots jealous, but I don’t care.

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

What has traveling taught you? To quote Mark Twain, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people are in dire need of it in this respect.”

What is your best travel tip? Have as few expectations as possible. The more open one can be to how the journey will reveal itself, the richer the experience.

Juliet Pennington can be reached at [email protected].