Described by music publications as an old-school country, Southern rock record, Traveller received critical acclaim and earned Stapleton several awards.

Traveller reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart after the 2015 Country Music Association Awards, during which Stapleton and Justin Timberlake performed a well-received duet.

The album has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold over 2.6 million copies in the United States by November 2019.

[9] Musically, "Sometimes I Cry" is a blues song,[9] "Nobody to Blame" is a mid-tempo country rock track,[10] and "Fire Away" features a beat in a classic soul-ballad time signature.

[11] "Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore" shrouds reflections about his father in the language of religious backsliding, which was previously covered by Julie Roberts in 2013.

The album features a blues-influenced cover of David Allan Coe's single "Tennessee Whiskey", and Charlie Daniels' "Was It 26", written by Don Sampson.

[9] Producer Dave Cobb originally intended to record the album at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, but it was already booked.

[28] In a review for Billboard, editor Caitlin White gave the album four-out-of-five stars, describing Traveller as a "solemn album, the work of a man gripped by life's impermanence", noting "undercurrents of regret, loss and resignation" in songs like "Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore", "Nobody to Blame" and "Devil Named Music".

"[12] In Los Angeles Times, Randy Lewis wrote "Stapleton's trenchant pen combines with his soul-drenched rasp of a voice for a moving exploration of the panoply of emotions in the human experience.

"[36] Critics from Rolling Stone opined Traveller "encapsulates everything that makes him one of the most powerful and unique voices in country music today: gravelly, soulful and full of songs that ring like instant classics without ever resting too deeply in the past.

"[37] In their year-end summary they stated "every track goes straight for the emotional jugular and give a glimpse inside a wildly introspective mind.

"[38] Editor Owen R. Smith from The Seattle Times noted the instruments mandolin, banjo, pedal steel guitar "are all given room to shine, even when Stapleton dips his toe into some menacing country rock in "Nobody to Blame" or electrified bluesy swagger in "Might As Well Get Stoned.