How Bishop Briggs Has Mastered Touring With a Toddler
The singer-songwriter tells us about her packing essentials, best memories from the road, and and how she passes the time with coloring books
If you’ve opened TikTok in the last two years, chances are you’ve seen countlessaspiringartists attempt the vocal gymnastics that is the hit song “River.” While many of these singers are pretty impressive and their renditions of the song lovely, none stand up to the power that singer-songwriter Bishop Briggs brought to her original track.
Briggs adopted her stage name from her parents’ hometown, Bishopbriggs, Scotland. Briggs was used to being on the move long before she became a touring artist. She was born in London, moved to Tokyo at four years old, and relocated again to Hong Kong at 10. After graduating from high school in Hong Kong, Briggs moved to LA to pursue her dream of being a musician. Her first taste of fame came in 2015 with the breakout single “Wild Horses,” followed by “River” in 2016. Since then, Briggs has released three studio albums, won season 9 of The Masked Singer, and performed at major festivals, including Coachella twice.
In March, Briggs dropped the deluxe version of her 2024 album Tell My Therapist I’m Fine before embarking on a headlining North American tour. In the midst of her tour, Briggs spoke with Thrillist associate editor Annie Harrigan about the joys of traveling with her toddler, her favorite city to perform in, and the unexpected thing she always brings through TSA.
Thrillist: What is your relationship with travel like?
Bishop Briggs: I think I was made to travel because I can curl up in a little ball wherever, whether that’s on a plane or a little van. I couldn’t do it when I was pregnant, and that was when I was like, “Am I not a traveler?” But there’s something about being able to put your knees up to your chest, that makes traveling a very different experience. I love to travel—but I’m also a homebody. I don’t know. I’m a Cancer and my rising is Leo. So I feel like there’s some confusion there when it comes to being a homebody or traveler.
What’s your favorite travel memory?
I think it was about a year ago in Boston. I was on tour and my baby learned how to walk. It was just this combination of my two worlds. My dream has always been to be able to do music and have my baby by my side. So there was something about him reaching that milestone while we were together that just felt really, really exciting.
What is your favorite way to spend a day off while on tour?
It has to start with a really good oat milk latte from a place where the branding, for some reason, is extremely minimalistic. The type of place where you’re like, “Where are the napkins? I haven’t seen a napkin.” And you have to scour for a lid for the coffee. Then I like to find a little bookstore. I love a good bookstore moment. I love a stationary store. And then throughout the day, I want to eat the best food ever. When I’m touring, I’m always eating curries. So when I have a day off, I love to switch it up and have Italian. I love a good bowl of pasta.
Are you a light packer or an over packer?
There’s a world that exists where I’m a light packer. I love to tell myself that, but every time I’m packing, there will be a mental breakdown that happens where I’m like, “The suitcase can’t close. This is crazy. I only brought two outfits.” Actually, I brought 200. So I’m going to say I’m a heavy packer—but I try to fit it into a light suitcase, which is my mistake.
What is something unexpected you like to bring with you when you travel?
As of now, it’s a little portable potty training thing. I have a little portable baby seat that comes into all the bathrooms. It’s this magnetic thing. I need to get the name of it so that I can get a thousand of them and just live in a house full of them. I think that would be unexpected. It still shocks me when I look in my bag and I’m not with the baby and it’s there.
What are some other things you absolutely cannot travel without?
I definitely go hard with skincare. I love the Tatcha overnight cream. And I recently lost my lip liner, which I wouldn’t think would be anything to write home about. Boy, oh boy, did it rock my world. I was looking it up on Instacart, looking on Sephora to see if they can send it over. I’m someone that definitely has lip liner blindness, so it’s all over.
What’s your favorite way to pass time on a plane or on a tour bus?
Recently there’s this coloring book that I do with the baby, and it involves a little stamp that stamps out stickers and it takes up a lot of time. And so that’s very fun. I am definitely the person that’s walking with the baby on the plane, just exploring and talking to people whether they want to or not. Just kidding. They initiate. And then passing time on a tour bus, I am a sucker for just looking out the window and taking it all in. We recently drove through Portland, Oregon, and right before you get into Portland, it’s just this most amazing greenery.
You’ve performed in cities all over the world—any favorites?
I am going to go with my hometown. I got to play in Bishopbriggs in [Greater] Glasgow, Scotland, at a venue called King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. And there was something really special when I was singing. This is hard to describe, but when I was singing, these thick Scottish accents started screaming something and I couldn’t hear what it was. They were going, “Here we here.” And then they went, “Here, we fucking go.” It’s this Scottish thing that I didn’t know, where, when they’re all into it, they will start chanting: “Here we, here we fucking go.” So I think that will always stand out to me. And my Auntie Anne Marie was there, all my cousins were there. And so I think that would be up there with one of my favorite places I’ve ever played. Legally, I have to say that because they’re my family.
When you’re not on stage, what’s your airplane or tour bus wardrobe?
You’re getting a little glimpse of it now. We have a parka. We have a little cute hat that my friend made. And then I’m wearing some Levi’s. And to top it off, I have my HOKA running shoes. I actually, accidentally, wore them to the meet-and-greet the other day, and I felt so exposed. I say, stage me is, like, Converse or Vans. And, if HOKA is listening, you are very cool. But HOKAs are my “mom mode,” if that makes sense.
It’s all of this plus the lip liner.
Oh, no, absolutely not. Doing my lip liner on a day off is criminal. But I am a lip gloss person. I just got the Fenty Gloss Bomb by Rihanna and it’s so good.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever tried to bring through airport security?
An embarrassing one—and there should be no shame in this—but I feel like my nose hair trimmer will always make an appearance, and it looks like a dildo. So that’s unfortunate. It’s because it vibrates and the top is rounded if you have the cap on it.
