Country Star Drake Milligan Checks Stagecoach 2023 Off His Bucket List

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This weekend rising country star and America's Got Talent finalist Drake Milligan made his debut on the Stagecoach Main stage for an enthusiastic crowd. Last year, Milligan performed on the marketplace stage and attended the festival for the first time. You can check out my interview with him from Stagecoach 2022 on YT here! This year he returned as a star after releasing his album Dallas/Ft. Worth and finishing America's Got Talent as a top 3 finalist. The music video for his hit single "Sounds like something I'd do" was also nominated at the CMT Awards this year for Male Breakthrough Video of the Year category. I caught up with him before his show to talk about what it was like coming back for the 15th anniversary festival, his plans for a new album, and more! 

Milligan told me that "Last year feels like a long time ago compared to this year and we've really turned a corner with the tour and playing so many live shows." He was looking forward to playing on the main stage at the festival and planned to hang out and enjoy the rest of the weekend as well. He told me "I hope to be able to see Chris Stapleton's show. He's an absolute legend and one of my hero's Paul Franklin will be playing in his band." Milligan said, "Stagecoach is just magical and there is nothing else like it anywhere in the world. Last year I played on the marketplace stage but I was looking over at the main stage thinking about what it would be like to be up there. It's definitely a check off the old bucket list for me to be playing at the 15th anniversary this year." 

The past 12 months has been full of bucket list achievements for Milligan as he had a full circle moment attending the CMT Awards after launching his career as Elvis on the CMT show Sun Records back in 2017. He also played in Europe for the first time at C2C festival in London. made his Ole Opry debut and got to play his own music at the legendary Billy Bob's Saloon in his hometown in Texas. Milligan recounted growing up in Texas and told me what it was like playing at Billy Bob's as a native Texan saying, "It never feels real to be there. Billy Bob's is a country music staple and so many of my hero's have played there like George Strait, Merle Haggard and more. I grew up 15 minutes from there and used to sneak in there in high school and get kicked out. They have really good security. It was nice to be kicked in instead of kicked out this time. It was pretty special. I love getting to see family and friends in the crowd." 

The 24 year old singer shared what it was like releasing his own album and what he hopes fans will get from his music. He said, "It feels really good. I've been working on the album since 2017 so it's just great to see people reacting to the songs and see people relating to the stories. Seeing things people do like playing the songs at a wedding or something and being able to uplift their life with country music is so rewarding. I've never been one to make grand statements but I want people to experience a story. I think that's what country music is all about. I want my fans to feel that they can relate to the songs and help people feel understood whether its a sad song about drinking a beer alone or amplifying the good times like drinking a beer with friends on a Friday night." 

As for what's next, Milligan said he is focusing on having fun on the road for now. He told me, "I am always writing and I've been in Nashville pretty consistently. I'm definitely thinking about the next record. We're about to start looking for outside writers so it's a really exciting time."