Drake Milligan Calls ‘AGT’ Experience “A Fever Dream,” Talks Debut Album Dallas / Fort Worth & More

After finishing in third place on Season 17 of America’s Got Talent, Drake Milligan has delivered a standout debut full-length album, Dallas / Fort Worth, which skyrocketed to number one on the iTunes All-Genre Top Albums and iTunes Top Country Albums charts the day of its release.

Milligan spoke to Music Mayhem about his early years as an Elvis impersonator, why he walked away from American Idol, the roles that Shania Twain and Vince Gill played on his new album, and what he learned from his experience on AGT.

The 24-year-old singer/songwriter grew up near Fort Worth, Texas with his mother, a veterinarian, and father, who runs the family’s scrapyard. Milligan says he “spent a lot of time hunting, fishing, and outdoors, and it was pretty normal until I really discovered Elvis.”

He’d grown up listening to classic country artists like Merle Haggard, George Jones, and George Strait, even seeing Alan Jackson and Randy Travis perform live at the Houston Rodeo, but seeing an Elvis impersonator ignited a fire for Milligan.

His family was out to eat at a local burger joint when Milligan witnessed the performance of an Elvis impersonator, who showed him how an artist could impact an audience not just through singing, but through performing as well.

“That’s where it kind of all changed for me,” recalled Milligan. “And I started to want to be an entertainer.”

Milligan became an Elvis tribute artist in high school, getting an education in the music business. “It was like a really good summer job,” he said. “[I] got to learn the ins and outs of the business and how to entertain people.”

17-year-old Milligan discovered an opportunity to audition for the CMT miniseries Sun Records while he was a senior in high school. “We found out on Facebook they were having an open call audition and drove up there and did the audition. And I had to fight to get in there. I was 17 at the time and they didn’t wanna let me in. But I really banged down the door and said, let me in. I’m good. I promise.”

Two weeks later, he’d earned the part and left high school to work on the show. He finished up school online and instead of pursuing his original plans of attending Texas Tech, he decided to focus on his career in entertainment, using each opportunity as a masterclass.

After Sun Records wrapped up, Milligan had the opportunity to audition for American Idol in 2017, but he realized that he wasn’t quite ready for the platform. “I hadn’t done hardly any writing. I hadn’t spent any time in Nashville, no work in the studio, and not a lot of work performing as myself. And so that was really kind of a moment of like, man, I really need to do this right rather than just get thrown up on national TV, not knowing who I am and what I wanna sing. And so I dropped out of the competition and moved to Nashville and just started writing.”

Milligan began writing with his heroes, the folks behind the songs of George Strait, Alan Jackson, and Randy Travis. That masterclass paid off, helping Milligan develop his own sound.

Veteran producer Tony Brown saw Milligan on Sun Records and contacted him early on, ultimately forming the foundation of their professional relationship. Brown helped Milligan shop for a record label deal, in the middle of a snow storm no less. “There was like eight inches of snow and everybody canceled, every single record label canceled, except for Broken Bow and Stony Creek. They all came in and we all hit it off. And so I signed with them.”

Milligan recorded most of his material in 2019 and early 2020 with producers Tony Brown and Brandon Hood, so he was ready to release an album in March 2020… when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “You can’t release as a new artist when there’s nowhere to play and the world’s kinda shut down.”

It was tough for Milligan to gain traction as a new artist during the pandemic, so when he found out that America’s Got Talent was accepting auditions from artists who had record deals, he decided to take a chance.

“America’s Got Talent came along and I said, you know what, I’m ready for this platform now, I know who I am. We’ve got all the pieces kind of together and why not take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to sing for millions of people, you know?”

Milligan won the hearts of those millions of people with his Elvis-inspired honky-tonk swagger, starting his AGT journey with his original song “Sounds Like Something I’d Do.” Reminiscent of 90s hitmaker Wade Hayes, Milligan showed his neo-traditionalist country star power to AGT fans, who voted him all the way through to the finals.

“It’s kind of like a fever dream,” says Milligan of his AGT experience. “Every time we come back here, you stay at the same hotel and there’s all the AGT acts, a ton of different acts and just meeting all the different people, really talented people and getting to hang out with them.”

For his AGT finals performance, he teamed up with country star Jon Pardi to sing Pardi’s number one hit “Last Night Lonely.”

Even though Milligan finished in third place on AGT, it was a positive experience for him. “It’s been a big confidence booster for me, cause I’ve gone up there and just sang original music, and gotten a great response.”

One of those original songs was “Kiss Goodbye All Night,” which appears on his new Dallas / Fort Worth album. He wrote the track in 2018 with Brandon Hood, Josh Jenkins, and Phil O’Donnell, who were inspired by ACM Poet’s Award recipient Shania Twain.

“We really almost wanted to write kind of a Shania thing. We are big Shania Twain fans and fans of those Mutt Lange records. We wanted something we could kind of have that Shania shuffle on,” said Milligan. “There’s some Elvis flavor to it, of course, and we tried to combine this Shania/Elvis-y/George Strait kind of track to create something new.”

Listening to the rest of the record, you can hear the versatility of Milligan’s artistry. From the dusty honky-tonks of Fort Worth to the polished boots of Dallas, his debut full-length album showcases the duality of his influences and neo-traditionalist swagger. On the Fort Worth side of the project, you can hear the western swing influences and even catch a guest appearance by Oklahoma native Vince Gill on “Goin’ Down Swingin’.”

Milligan’s new radio single, “Sounds Like Something I’d Do,” appears as the lead track on the Dallas side of the album, delivering a larger than life sound and attitude worthy of the Texas city’s name.

Following his whirlwind experience on AGT, Milligan is hitting the road to deliver the new music on his headlining tour. Perhaps the most notable stop on the tour will be Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, Texas on September 23.

“I grew up maybe 20 minutes from Billy Bob’s. We’d go sneak in there in high school and I’ve gotten kicked out of there plenty of times,” Milligan laughed. “I saw a lot of my favorites, especially Texas country acts like Pat Green, Cody Johnson… That’s always been a dream and it really came earlier than I thought it was going to, it’s a huge venue. I was so surprised when it started really selling well. That’s a dream come true. And hopefully I won’t get kicked out this time.”

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