“GLASGOW'S always been part of my story overseas or in Europe for me,” country star Drake Milligan says.  

The Texas native is coming to Glasgow’s SWG3 later this month as part of this first headline tour following his appearances at C2C festival earlier this year and in 2023. 

The singer says he it will be “great” to be back in Glasgow as the city has played an important role in the early years of his career.  

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“The first year at C2C I was on the spotlight stage and then came back next year and was invited to play the mainstage and had a great show and a great response,” he says.  

“Now it’s crazy, tickets went on sale when I was at C2C for this headline show and I couldn’t believe the response and having to upgrade the venue a couple of times.  

“It’s great, it something I couldn’t have ever dreamed of happening this early in my career.” 

Drake released his debut EP Jukebox Songs earlier this year and says the response was “incredible” with C2C audiences singing along to the tracks.  

Taking influence from artists such as George Strait and Merle Haggard, he is described as “a student of classic country music”.  

But it’s the King of Rock n Roll who inspired Drake to become a musician after he came across Elvis Presley by accident.  

(Image: Jospeh Llanes)

The 26-year-old says: “My first loves in music were country music artists.  

“Growing up in Texas around my parents’ music, they loved the older style of country music and artists like Merle Haggard, George Jones and Waylon Jennings.  

“George Strait’s always been one of my favourites, Allan Jackson, and then it all changed for me when I discovered who Elvis was.  

“I discovered him through a local Elvis impersonator that I happened to see totally by accident when I was about seven years old.  

“This was the coolest things I’d ever seen, and I went home and looked up everything I could.  

“That’s when I thought ‘man this is something I want to do, I want to entertain people like Elvis’.” 

Drake later went on to perform locally as an Elvis impersonator himself and starred in TV series Sun Records as a young Elvis.  

“I was born over 20 years after Elvis passed away, but I can watch a video of him and feel like he’s reaching through that screen and singing right to me,” he says. 

“He had a way of really deeply connecting with people through music and the songs are of course amazing.  

“It was a great catalogue for me to have as a foundation.” 

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(Image: Supplied)

Country music has become the fastest growing genre of music in the UK, according to data released by Country Music Association, with the streaming of country stars rising by almost 50% between 2020 and 2022.  

Drake thinks the genre is having its moment because people all around the world can relate to the stories told in the music.  

“We live in a time where music is more accessible than it’s ever been,” he says.   

“We have all the music we could ever listen to on our phones now and I think country music is a genre that’s taking the place of a lot of different genres.  

“There’s rock in country now, there’s pop in country now, and there’s a resurgence of young traditional artists that are coming out.  

“I think people respond to the stories in country music, whether it’s something that’s deep and profound or it’s something as simple as having fun and drinking a beer on a Friday night, it’s things that anybody across the world can relate to.  

“That’s what’s special about country music and why people all around the world respond to it.” 

Drake also says he thinks performing in Glasgow is one of the places where audiences value traditional country music.  

He adds: “I’ve always found the audience in Glasgow great.  

“What I love about the audience over there is they seem to really appreciate the older style of country music that I play or if I play an Elvis, Roy Orbison or Johnny Cash cover, people really seem to enjoy that which is great because it’s the music I love and grew up on.  

“And it feels good to know there’s still audiences out there that love that stuff.” 

Drake Milligan will be at SWG3 Galvanizers on Monday, July 22.