Andy Grammer Says His Worst Quality as a Parent Is Being a 'Touring Musician'

For Andy Grammer, being a musician on the road has its pros and cons when it comes to parenting.

The “Honey, I’m Good” singer — who just released his newest album, The Good Parts,in December — opened up to PEOPLE recently about how his career choice plays into his role as a new dad to daughter Louisiana “Louie” K, 5 months.

“Because of my touring schedule, I’m up all the time anyway — I don’t get a lot of sleep,” says Grammer, 34. “So right now, I’m not getting a lot of sleep with this teeny little infant, but it’s not that big of a deal to me.”

“So when she wakes up at 3 and she’s like, ‘What are we doing?’, I’m like, ‘Let’s ride!’ ” he adds with a laugh.

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The drawbacks are tough too, though. As Grammer explains, “My worst quality as a parent is something that’s not even my fault — it’s that I’m a touring musician.”

“I just had to leave her for the first time this week and it was freaking brutal,” says the singer. “She smiled for the first time right as I was leaving — it’s like she knew.”

“And I was like, ‘Okay, I gotta go, goodbye!’ and she’s like [eyes wide], ‘Really?’ ” he continues. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is gonna be so hard.’ ”

While she’s a little young to put the golden rule into effect just yet, little Louie will have a solid springboard from her dad and mom Aijia.

“My dad taught me, right before I went into high school, he said, ‘All the cool kids change, so be nice to everybody,’ ” Grammer recalls. “I’m hopefully gonna make sure she knows that.”