Sturgill Simpson has been touring almost nonstop since the release of his second studio album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. While Simpson says that he is having fun on the road, with a wife and a new baby waiting for him at home, the crazy schedule is starting to take its toll.

"It’s a little bittersweet just because, I mean, I’ve been playing music my entire life off and on, but never really ambitiously pursued it in any capacity until a couple years ago," Simpson tells Chris Shifflet in an interview for Shifflet's Walking the Floor podcast. "But now, I’ve got a 4-month-old son at home and a wife I love very much, and I just, I feel like all this is happening, and the only place I want to be is at home.”

Simpson has spent a lot of time in Europe over the past year, and while the traveling is difficult on his home life, it's also had an impact on his physical health.

“Yeah, I’ve actually, I’ve lost my voice …," he says. "I’ll push myself more than anybody, but I think I’ve finally hit the point where I’m exhausted."

A big reason he's spent so much time in Europe recently is simple: The continent is full of county music fans.

“They love it, they really do, especially Scotland and Ireland and the Scandinavian countries," Simpson says. "London’s been really good to me -- England as a whole -- but the Scots and the Irish especially are very appreciative because that’s kind of where it all came from.

"I’m very grateful, but at the same time, I’m glad all this happened when I’m 36 instead of 26 because I -- I’m just such a homebody, and I just want to write songs and make the best record that I can," he adds. "All the press and the accolades and the attention, that’s not really my style, and it’s been a little [bit of] an adjustment. I find that I have to just kind of avoid the internet as much as possible. And even more so, when I go and look at it, I remember why I should be avoiding it.”

In the year since Metamodern Sounds was released, Simpson hasn't seen a negative review, but he's still fearful that one could pop up somewhere online.

“Well, if you believe either [the positive or the negative], you’ve got to believe the other. There haven’t really been any bad reviews, that’s the thing, but I know, sooner or later, they’re coming," he says. "It’s mostly just -- there’s a lot of ignorance out there you have to ignore."

The Kentucky native, who has signed a new record deal and a publishing deal this year, heads back to Europe in mid-August for dates in Scandinavia and the U.K., before returning stateside for a U.S. tour, which includes three sold-out shows at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. See a list of all of Simpson's upcoming concerts at SturgillSimpson.com.

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