We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a new series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.
Giddy up, country music fans — there’s a fresh face on the scene ready to take over your playlist and your heart. Drake Milligan first caught the attention of the A-list judges on America’s Got Talent last year as the ever tough-to-crack Simon Cowell praised his “real charisma.” Quickly becoming an AGT fan favourite, his debut, critically acclaimed album ‘Dallas/Fort Worth’ grew his audience to more than 3.4 million Spotify listeners locally and internationally, including here in Canada. Did we mention he also scored his first Canadian country radio #1 with The Reklaws on their joint hit single, “Honky Tonkin’ About”?
Drake is days away from kicking off his first Canadian headlining tour with stops in Regina (Dec. 5), Saskatoon (Dec. 6), Edmonton (Dec. 7), and Calgary (Dec. 8) supported by Canadian country songstress Kalsey Kulyk (our next Love at First Listen feature!). He’s set to wrap up his whirlwind year at home with a performance at one of the world’s largest New Year’s Honky Tonks in Fort Worth, TX, before he opens for Cody Johnson on tour across the U.S. next spring.
Ahead of his final shows of the year, Love at First Listen caught up with Drake Milligan to chat all things AGT, #1 songs, and why, even if you’ve seen him live before, his next shows will be a whole new experience.
Welcome to Love at First Listen! You’ve had an absolutely stacked year and you continue to add to a seemingly never-ending string of milestones, having just landed your first-ever Canadian country radio #1 and kicking off a new tour. Is it even possible to take a moment and absorb all that action?
Not at all. It’s all happening so fast. I got a week off back home before gearing up for tour, so that was my one opportunity to sit back and kind of take it all in. With these Canadian shows coming up, this is my first time visiting some of these cities, so it’ll be a lot of fun.
Fans watched your America’s Got Talent journey play out on TV, but how was it for you? What was the biggest lesson you took from your time on the show and how did it help accelerate your career?
As a new artist that had been on the road, I had material recorded but not released yet, so that show was a perfect opportunity for me to showcase it to the world. After the show, I really learned that I can perform on a high level. Those live shows are no joke — it’s truly live. And you’re in front of not only a big theater of a few thousand fans, but you’re in front of millions of people who are watching live at home. So, it’s pretty daunting, but if you can get on the other side of it and pull it off, you feel like, okay, there’s really nothing I could be fazed by.
You were raised in Texas and moved to Nashville at the age of 19. What was going through your mind as you made that big leap and invested in yourself and your career at a young age? Take us through your first couple of months in Music City.
I think I was too naive to really know what I was doing. I really jumped in and started writing songs. My sole focus was finding great songwriters. People that had written some of my favorite songs and some of these ‘90s country songs that I love are still around Nashville writing great music. So, that was my first objective — finding them, seeking them out, and trying to learn from them. I was lucky enough to do that and learn a lot about songwriting and still am learning a lot.
What advice would you give someone who has watched your journey and wants to follow in your footsteps?
Go for it and stay true to yourself, and make sure you go in there knowing what you want to say and how you want to say it.
Coming back to that impressive and exciting Canadian country radio #1 for “Honky Tonkin’ About,” how did you initially connect with The Reklaws (our favourite Canadian country duo!) and how was it playing the song live for the first time to open the 2023 CCMA Awards?
It’s been incredible! My label first reached out and said there was a great Canadian group that wanted to do a song with me. I had heard a little bit about them before then, but as soon as I met them, we became fast friends. They’re amazing and I was really honoured that they wanted me to be a part of the song.
Who is on your bucket list of collaborators for 2024? How can we help you manifest them?!
There’s a few I’d love to work with. On my first record, ‘Dallas/Fort Worth,’ I got Vince Gill to come sing a song with me. He’s one of my heroes and we’re gearing up to hopefully cut another record. I would love to get another country music legend in there. Obviously for a Texan, George Strait is at the top of the list, but you know, any legend will do!
The end of the year always seems to inspire a lot of self-reflection and thanksgiving. When you think back on 2023, what was your career high—if it’s possible to pinpoint one—and what are you most looking forward to in 2024?
I feel like this whole summer has been on a high. We played so many shows this year; I know it’s over 100 shows all over the States. We played in London, across the UK, and we played in Glasgow, Scotland, which was definitely a highlight. But I just feel like being on the road was all one big highlight for me — playing so many shows, watching the shows get bigger, and watching as our show got better. The more we play, the better we are, so it’s been a really great year for just keeping the train rolling.
Are you working on anything else that fans can look forward to as you wrap up this jam-packed year and prep for the next one?
With all of the shows we played this year, I feel like mostly everybody’s got to see a little bit of it. So, we’re going to change things up and totally revamp the live show. We have some new songs recorded and I’m hopefully going back in again and cutting some more songs soon. So, there’ll be new music coming out and lots to look forward to in the new year. I want to be doing this for a long time, and this year felt like the first one of a long career.
