Robby Klein
North Texas native Drake Milligan swings by Billy Bob's this Saturday, September 28.
Long before Drake Milligan ever dreamed of playing a young Elvis Presley on the CMT series “Sun Records," the Mansfield native had been prepping for the role. Since age 7, when Milligan saw an Elvis impersonator perform at a local Arlington burger joint, he says he's been enamored with “The King.” By the time he was an early teen, both Milligan and his mom took to the road, paying tribute to the Vegas-era Elvis at various local events, jump suits and all.
“I took it all the way when I was a kid,” Milligan says. “Once I turned about 13 or so, I said I better stop wearing the jumpsuits and tried to hone my stage presence around looking a lot more like Elvis when he was younger. So, I did the '50s Elvis, and my mom and I would travel around and do that. That was my summer gig. My summer job was traveling around as Elvis.”
After a few years of doing Elvis tributes during his summer breaks between classes at Legacy High, Milligan says an opportunity came up that tapped into his years of impersonating the rock icon on the road.
In 2017, CMT was looking to cast an actor that could portray a young Elvis Presley for a new series it was producing titled, “Sun Records.” Many would audition for the role; however, Milligan, only 17 at the time, would be picked not just because he looked like Elvis, but because he also sang, played guitar, and moved like him too.
“I studied him a lot,” he says. “Elvis was one of the best entertainers ever and I spent a long time trying to replicate his look and sound. Elvis has always been a north star as far as entertainers go for me.”
Following that light meant relocating from Mansfield to Nashville, Tennessee, smack in the middle of Milligan’s senior year of high school. However, this move proved crucial to the young singer’s career, given he had to be close to the set of “Sun Records” to portray Elvis.
“Of course, I don't think I realized either how much my life was going to change,” he says after finding out he landed the role. “I ended up leaving high school and going out to Memphis and starting this big TV show. So, I was kind of really just more focused on the task at hand. And I said, 'All right, now it's game time. I’ve got to make sure I do well at this job.’”
After Milligan had completed his stint on the series, he tried out for the 17th season of "American Idol" in 2018. Milligan made the initial cut and competed but decided he wasn’t quite ready for that style of platform and ultimately dropped out.
Three years later, record label BBR Music Group would reject Milligan only to sign him six months later and release his debut self-titled EP and a Christmas tune, “Cowgirl for Christmas.” One year later, Milligan would again try his hand world-wide fame, appearing on "America’s Got Talent." Backed by a full band, Milligan received four “yes” votes for the performance of his original song, “Sounds Like Something I’d Do,” and end up in third place by season’s end. Hot on the heels of his appearance on the hit television show, Milligan would release his first full-length album, Dallas/Fort Worth, in 2022.
Robby Klein
Since, Milligan has been busy touring, writing songs, and collaborating with several Nashville songwriters. The result of this work would culminate in Milligan’s latest EP titled Jukebox Songs, released on Feb. 16. This EP’s latest single, “I Got A Problem,” cracked the Billboard top 100 coming in at No. 62.
But if there’s one thing this country singer has learned during his years as a performer, it is the value of being able to work with others as well as learning to rely on yourself.
“On my first record, I co-wrote all 14 of the tracks. On this EP, I wrote some of the songs and some of the songs were written by Nashville songwriters. And it was my first experience kind of doing that, taking a new song and trying to make it my own,” he says.
Once he had all of the songs in place for his latest EP, Milligan says he didn’t have to look very hard for a title. In fact, it would be a line from one of the songs on the EP that would stand out to him.
“Anytime I'm looking for songs, writing or listening to songs, I'm kind of always looking for those songs that feel instantly classic; songs that feel like they're timeless and can transcend eras,” he explained. “For me that's like one of those old jukeboxes in a corner of a bar somewhere and they've got ‘Neon Moon’ or all the way back to Roy Orbison songs, or Elvis songs, Buddy Holly songs, or old Hank Williams songs.”
Milligan says this is what sticks out to him when writing or auditioning a new song. He looks for tunes that are “Going to stick around a while.”
When asked what sticks out more to him during the songwriting process, melody or music, Milligan says it really depends, although he is guilty of leaning into one over the other.
“I love just good solid melodies,” he says. “All my favorite singers and artists throughout time, like Elvis, are known for having great melodies. Lyrics, obviously, go along with that, but for me, it's just finding a melody that can catch your ear, and turn your head.”
Slowly ascending into the hierarchy of country musicians, the young 20-something singer is now embarking on his first headlining tour after a stint opening for Cody Johnson. And you can catch one of Milligan’s first shows as a headliner this Saturday, Sept. 28, at Billy Bob’s Texas.
