Shinedown’s Brent Smith explains why he prefers the nomadic lifestyle

Many rock stars like to live in elaborate houses and experience lavish lives, but don’t Shinedown frontman Brent Smith. In fact, he has revealed that he does not miss having a permanent home because he is “a true minimalist” who has preferred the nomadic lifestyle for about a decade.

Why does Brent Smith prefer the nomadic life?

Smith recently appeared on LA Lloyd’s Rock 30 podcast (uploaded to YouTube on June 18) to discuss fatherhood, growth and other inspiring personal insights.

About nine minutes into their conversation, Lloyd mentioned it Smith sold his California home in 2016 because he “spends more time on the road than (he does) at home.” He then asked Smith, “Is there a place you call ‘home’ or your base, or is it just the tour bus, or do you see a place down the road that might be considered ‘home’?”

Smith replied:

That’s interesting, man. Like growing up and then—you know—having the life that I asked for actually become a reality. I remember my parents – in the first few records and album cycles – my mother and my father, . . . was still working and there were a lot of people saying to my mom, they said, “It almost looks like he’s running from something.” My mother thought, “No, he’s running against everything,” and I’ve always believed that—and she made that up. I think it was kind of a flooring of people, and there used to be this idea that I was homeless, and . . . my mother said, “He’s not homeless. He’s home free”

Smith also talked about how his family still connects him to certain places.

“My home is with my son, you know, so I definitely have roots in Florida because of him,” he explained, continuing:

And I have roots in Tennessee. I’m in Nashville a lot. I mean, the last couple of years I was in South Carolina with Erik (Bass, Shinedown bassist/guitarist) pretty much all the time. Again, like when I had the house out in California in 2010 to 2016, I just did a lot out in California. I worked on a lot of different things – with the band, of course – and it made sense. Then it just got to a point where I was like, “I kind of did what I had to do here. I’ve got to move on.”

For me, I’ve just never, ever had a problem with being on the go. I think there’s a level of—because I’m the one in the band—of course, the four of us (myself and Eric and Zach (Myers, guitarist/pianist) and Barry (Kerch, drummer)) were with each other a lot and they all have home bases and stuff. But I’m also the one in the band who does a lot behind the scenes in terms of the business, and what are the next steps and how are we going to negotiate some things? A lot of times, you know, just to make an impact, I’ll fly to where I’m going. And if it’s abroad, I just fly abroad. I can get up a little by living as I do; I can pretty much move on a dime and it just works for me.

Smith added: “Am I saying I never want a home base? No. I just don’t know where it is at the moment.”

Lloyd followed up by mentioning “the old adage ‘he lives out of a suitcase'” and explained:

It must be one hell of a suitcase when you live the way you are, and of course you have to pack and prepare for a trip. I mean, I’ve even seen some jokes about like “Brent has this fight suitcase when he goes out. What is it like to prepare for a trip of this magnitude?”

“I had downgraded my cases recently,” Smith replied.

He elaborated:

It’s also one of the things like people will say online. They’re like, “He wears the same thing all the time.” And I say, “Yes, you’re right.” Because it works for me too. Now I mean, for me it’s pretty simple. I am what is considered a – I am a true minimalist. So I don’t own anything like that. I don’t have any kind of stuff. I don’t necessarily save anything unless it’s from fans we put in storage or in closets and stuff. But I really don’t own anything and again, it just works for me.

Smith even contrasted his approach to packaging with that of his bandmates:

Barry is probably a bit of the over-packer and has all these very careful things in the way that he does certain things, so he’s a bit more of that. There are many. . . creature comforts that he must have so that he does things a certain way. Zach had a shoe bag built for the tour, so that tells you to right there. But Zach kind of has his very specific things that he likes and you know how he puts things together. Eric is probably a bit more like me, where he comes across as minimalist in a way. Eric pretty much wears the same thing on a daily basis. He doesn’t really change it.

Overall, however, Smith reflected that “more than anything else,” the band has “learned over time not to overpack.”

He concluded:

The beauty of being on tour is that you – I mean, yeah, and you have to pay for it, but you can pretty much – when you’re out here – just send somebody out to get what you need. You know, like, tour isn’t the real world. It’s kind of an interesting place to live in. It’s a lot—it’s a lot of hard work, but you kind of learn what you can facilitate out here and how to pack. Over the years, I think the four of us have all kinds – I think everyone has learned to be a little less of e.g. pack rats, because you can sort of grab what you need while you’re out here.

You can watch the entire episode below:

Brent Smith Discusses Nomad Lifestyle + More with LA Loyd (June 18, 2026)

READ MORE: Shinedown Honor Fan Request, play song live for first time in 18 years

Other Brent Smith + Shinedown News

Last month, Shinedown released their eighth studio LP (aptly titled 8 hrs) via Atlantic Records. It follows the 2022s Planet Zeroand back in April, Smith said it’s the band’s best effort yet his ranking of every Shinedown album. To his point, it got rave reviews from Classic rock magazine, the Associated Press and Blabbermouth.

Shinedown is also in the middle of the “Dance, Kid, Dance Act II” world tour (with special guests Coheed and Cambria, Black stone cherry, The cursed crows and From ashes to new). They actually have dates that stretch until the end of November and you can see the full list of travel stops – and get tickets – here.

Earlier this month, Loudwire included Shinedown in our list of 29 Bands That Are ‘Dad Rock’ Now (And There’s Nothing You Can Do About It). Feel free to check out the entire list and let us know if you agree or disagree with Shinedown (or any other band) being included!

What do you think of Smith’s view of living the nomadic life? Tell us!