Josh Kelley Relishes ‘Leave It to Beaver’ Life in Utah

Josh Kelley moved to Utah with his wife, actress Katherine Heigl, a few years ago, and even though he's a long way from Nashville and the songwriting community he loves, he's finding some advantages to living in such beautiful surroundings.

"I do a lot of skiing, and I'm obsessed with fly-fishing," Josh tells The Boot. "When the summer comes, you meet people out here who get you into different things. One of my buddies knew I loved fishing, but I'd never fly-fished, and he said, 'You gotta come with me!' So after my first cast and my first trout on the line, I was honestly just hooked. When I get into something, you can tell I really like something, because it's full-speed, head first. I dive right in and engulf my life in it."

Josh even takes his hobby on the road with him these days, and his tour mates occasionally get to benefit from his obsession. "I travel all around the country with my fly-tying kit, and I tie flies all the time and give them away. I gave Eric Church one of my hoppers the other day."

Of course, he's gotten Katherine "hooked" on the sport as well, but Josh finds himself smiling sometimes when he thinks about the vast contrast between their glamorous personal lives as celebrities and their home life with daughter Naleigh.

"Katie and I both caught trout one day fly-fishing," he recalls. "We came back and she prepared the fish, and I downloaded the movie 'A River Runs Through It,' and we watched it while we ate our trout. Sometimes I'm at home watching TV, and me and my wife are sitting watching a movie, and she'll be on one couch knitting, and I'll be on the other side tying flies, and I'm thinking to myself, 'This is so 'Leave It to Beaver,' man!'"

Josh admits that although they're enjoying their time out West, he definitely sees the family moving back to Nashville at some point in the future. But from a creative standpoint, living away from Music City has actually inspired him more as a writer.

"I'm in Nashville all the time," he notes. "What's funny is I write better songs in Nashville not being a resident. Just because I feel like I'm always really excited to come back and write with my friends. If I could write with them every day, I might get sick of it. I definitely don't take it for granted, because it really is basically the best place in the world to write songs."

Josh's album, 'Georgia Clay' is set for release March 22. Read our full interview with the singer/songwriter here.