Up next in 10
Drake Milligan talks to Everything Nash about life after 'AGT,' songwriting, new music, and more.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hey guys, it's Gail with Everything Nash
0:02
back with Drake Milligan. Good to see
0:03
you again.
0:04
>> Good to see you.
0:05
>> How is your CMA Fest?
0:07
>> Uh, good. It's been busy.
0:08
>> Yeah. Um, what I want to start with, I
0:10
didn't plan on, but I saw you last night
0:12
performing Storms of Life for Randy
0:15
Travis with Randy Travis sitting a few
0:17
feet away from you. Talk about that.
0:19
>> It's pretty awesome. I waited until I
0:21
got through the first verse and chorus
0:22
to even try to look at at Randy cuz I
0:25
knew I was just going to be like, you
0:27
know. Um, but it it was it was special.
0:29
What a special event. I mean, you know,
0:32
I I think about my first introductions
0:34
into country music and Randy is a huge
0:37
huge part of that. And um, you know, all
0:42
the hours that I've spent, you know,
0:43
singing along to Randy, you know, on the
0:46
radio, on CDs, and and uh, yeah, there's
0:49
no doubt that my music would be far
0:50
different without without his music and
0:52
his voice. So, it's pretty special just
0:54
to be invited uh, to be a part of that.
0:56
was pretty awesome when you think about
0:58
40 years since that debut records film's
1:00
life.
1:00
>> You weren't even born.
1:01
>> I was not.
1:02
>> That is just wild. And I love how he's
1:04
still so revered by so many people. I
1:07
mean, he's just such an icon in our
1:08
industry. All right, let's talk about
1:10
your music. Tumbleeed, the album is out.
1:12
What a great album. Talk about it.
1:13
>> Thank you. Yeah, this is a record I did
1:15
with uh Trent Wilman. Produced it. Uh
1:17
>> no big deal. He's phenomenal.
1:19
>> Yeah, Trent's the best. And uh we had a
1:21
lot of fun. It was um a lot of these
1:24
songs, you know, over the last like few
1:26
years since my debut record uh right off
1:28
the heels of AGT um there were so many
1:31
songs that didn't make it into the p
1:32
that pile. So this is technically my
1:34
sophomore project, right? Uh my
1:36
sophomore album uh if you will and
1:39
there's songs gosh there and over the
1:42
last few years it's just kind of been
1:43
crazy. Haven't really had time to catch
1:45
my breath. we've been on the road. Um,
1:47
in a lot of ways I felt like a tumble
1:48
weed, you know, and uh, when we found
1:51
the song Tumbleeed, I knew I wanted it
1:53
to be the the the title of the record.
1:57
Um, just because I in a lot of ways it's
1:59
it's how I felt over the last few years.
2:02
And and the song is really about kind of
2:04
having that grounding too, you know,
2:05
having like the the or the wind behind
2:07
you. you know, there's you can kind of
2:09
feel like you're being pushed aimlessly
2:11
in all directions when you're doing this
2:12
thing. But you just kind of know that
2:14
there is a force there. There's a wind
2:16
there. Um, and you know, for me, it's my
2:19
fan base and and my family and my team
2:22
um kind of being the kind of driving
2:24
force behind it, pushing me in a certain
2:25
direction, you know, not just like into
2:28
the wind. So, um, yeah, there there's a
2:30
lot of songs on here. There's songs that
2:32
that I wrote like eight years ago when I
2:36
first moved to town. Um, there's songs
2:38
that I wrote just for this project.
2:39
There's songs that I didn't write, um,
2:41
that I just happened to find and and,
2:44
uh, there's some, uh, you know, I got to
2:46
explore some different kind of country
2:48
sounds, some some different influences.
2:50
Uh, there's songs that are inspired by
2:52
the music of Marty Robbins on here.
2:54
>> There's a song that's inspired by Roy
2:56
Orbison on here. There's there's so many
2:59
different things uh I feel like that
3:01
I've gotten to dive into uh artistically
3:04
on this record and and I'm I'm glad glad
3:07
to have it out there
3:08
>> and you are also really touring and I'm
3:10
so glad I almost didn't even look up
3:11
your press stuff because I know you um
3:14
>> you're really big in the UK right now.
3:16
Who knew? Who knew? It's big in the UK.
3:18
Talk about that.
3:20
>> It's crazy. Um yeah, we just did a meet
3:22
and greet today here. There's so many
3:23
fans uh that came into town for CMA Fest
3:26
from the UK. Uh it's it's it's crazy
3:28
what's happening over there. The the
3:30
country fan base uh I found in Europe is
3:32
is is kind of I guess it's kind of a
3:35
small group but it's ever growing. I
3:37
mean they you know I just did the uh CTC
3:40
festival. Uh we're direct support for
3:42
Brooks and Dun over there and I mean
3:44
there's 17,000 people in the O2 Arena uh
3:47
sing along to every word. Uh so it's
3:50
pretty awesome. Uh, you know, it's it's
3:51
cool that there's like they're very
3:53
passionate fan base and they they're so
3:55
proud to be country music fans and it's
3:57
so cool for me to see as somebody who
3:59
loves country music and kind of
4:01
dedicated my life to country music. Um,
4:03
seeing people be that uh excited about
4:07
the genre and wanting to dive into the
4:09
history and wanting to to find new
4:11
artists and support new artists and
4:13
that's what they're doing. They're
4:14
they're amazing fans. So, uh, it's
4:17
special. I don't, you know, I don't
4:19
really know exactly why they've
4:20
gravitated towards my music. We don't,
4:22
we keep going back. We went for the
4:24
first time, I think three or four years
4:25
ago to CC Festival and we've been able
4:28
to grow it and grow it and grow it since
4:29
then. So, um, it's really special. Um,
4:32
and and yeah, we're going back in in
4:35
November. We'll be back in the UK doing
4:36
a full headlining tour.
4:38
>> I think it's Kip Moore that says that
4:41
>> UK audience doesn't leave any like
4:43
there's no fluff lyrics with UK
4:44
audience. like they're they're into the
4:46
lyrics like they and you're a great
4:48
songwriter cuz you've had songs recorded
4:50
by other artists. Ronnie Den, it's
4:51
funny.
4:53
>> Exactly.
4:54
>> What an amazing opportunity for you.
4:56
>> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I love I I you know,
4:58
I moved to town. I didn't expect to be a
5:00
songwriter when I moved to town. I just
5:02
kind of dipped a toe in songwriting and
5:03
I thought I would find I would just be
5:05
an artist that would cut outside songs.
5:07
Um, but it became a a way for me to find
5:09
my voice. And also, I just fell in love
5:11
with the art of songwriting. And there's
5:13
so many songs that I write that aren't I
5:15
feel like mine. I I feel like I I I
5:18
somebody else would do them far better.
5:20
Uh, Ty Delk who's who I just got to meet
5:22
today. Uh, just cut a song that I
5:24
co-written and uh it's great because it
5:26
was a song that I like was out of my
5:28
range. I could I could not sing this
5:30
song if I tried. Uh, but he's a great
5:32
singer and was able to sing it and
5:34
absolutely killed it. So, it's it's it's
5:36
it's cool and it feels good. It makes
5:38
you feel um very validated like somebody
5:41
like Ronnie Dunn cuts a song of yours.
5:43
Um it makes you feel like you're doing
5:45
the right thing.
5:45
>> Do you ever do the mind game with
5:46
yourself of what would have happened if
5:48
you hadn't tried out for AGT?
5:50
>> Uh a little bit. A little bit. You know,
5:51
my my thing with AGT, it was such a
5:53
great opportunity to get in front of a
5:55
big audience uh very very quickly and it
5:57
allowed me kind of a little fan base all
6:00
over the world uh kind of overnight. Um,
6:03
but we've been able to build on that
6:04
because it's kind of a spark. It ignites
6:06
and then it can fade fast if it
6:07
>> doesn't do the work for you.
6:08
>> It doesn't do the work for you. So,
6:09
we've been able to really grow and grow
6:11
on that.
6:12
>> Um, since then I think I would still
6:14
probably be um trying this, but it it
6:18
gave me such a great way to break
6:19
through the ice and it's such a great I
6:22
got to tell my story and have my, you
6:24
know, play my music on there and have my
6:25
band. Um, so it really allowed uh kind
6:30
of not I wouldn't say overnight success,
6:32
but a way to break through the ice and
6:34
and and kind of give me a foundation to
6:36
start building on.
6:37
>> All right, last question. What's
6:38
happening with you this year besides
6:39
touring all over the world?
6:40
>> Yeah, touring all over the world for
6:41
sure. We're doing a big West Coast run
6:43
this month. Uh we're going to Australia
6:45
next month. Uh we're doing of course
6:48
Europe in uh uh September and November.
6:52
Uh, but I'm always I'm trying to work in
6:54
between that and try to cut some new
6:56
music and keep keep the ball rolling.
6:57
>> Well, when you have new music, we'll
6:58
talk again.
6:59
>> All right, sounds good. Drake Milligan,
7:00
>> thank you.
#People & Society