Drake Milligan is known as a talented singer, and a Top 5 finalist on America’s Got Talent, but he’s also a gifted songwriter as well. In addition to writing all 14 songs on Milligan’s debut Dallas/Fort Worth album, he also got a cut on Ronnie Dunn‘s solo 100 Proof Neon record, with “If Love Ever Comes My Way Again.” Milligan wrote the song with Jim and Brett Beavers, still pinching himself that one of his musical idols recorded something he wrote.
“It was so cool,” Milligan tells Everything Nash. “When we started writing it, we got like halfway through the song. We got to that chorus, that’s kind of that yodeling kind of chorus, and we were like, ‘Man, it’s kind of a Ronnie Dunn thing.’ And luckily it found its way to Ronne, and it’s so cool. He hadn’t really done that high falsetto thing since ‘My Maria,’ and it’s cool to hear him sing that. And of course, he’s one of my heroes. So to hear one of your heroes sing a song you wrote is really, really cool.”
Dunn sang the praises of “If Love Ever Comes My Way Again,” especially for the way it challenged him vocally.
“When it came to cut ‘[My] Maria’ years ago I didn’t want to have anything to do with it and the high part of the falsetto was a little, as a singer, intimidating,” Dun tells Forbes. “So, when this thing came along it’s like, ‘Well, I’ve been there, done that.’ I love it. That could be one of my top two or three songs on there.”
Milligan just released “Sounds Like Something I’d Do” from Dallas/Fort Worth. The song is the one that earned him a spot on AGT, one of the many on the project that shows both sides of who he is, as an artist and songwriter.
“I grew up in Fort Worth, just south of Fort Worth, and it’s such a traditional kind of city, right?” Milligan reflects. “It kind of holds onto its roots. You have the stockyards, you have Billy Bob’s. It’s a city that really holds true to its roots, and loves tradition. I like to call it a little more dust on the boots. And Dallas is of course a big, big city, and trying to be the next big thing, and looking towards the future.
“And so it was a great way to split up these songs,” he continues. “I have that side of me that wants to be on radio, and is more polished, and then that side of maybe a little bit of rock influence. And then the side of me that’s holding onto my roots, and wants to do a little honky-tonk traditional country music.”
Download “If Love Ever Comes My Way Again” here. Find all of Milligan’s music and tour dates at DrakeMilligan.com.
