Ancient America’s Got Talent finalistcountry singer and actor Drake Milligan is used to many things: comparisons with Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, watching the world go by from his tour bus and slowly climbing to the top in what can be a difficult and fickle industry.

One thing that surprised the star? How many country music fans he met in Europe and Australia during his recent overseas concerts.

“You’ll find country music fans all over Europe,” says Milligan, who exclusively releases her “I Got a Problem” music video with PEOPLE on Thursday.

“I recently headlined a huge country music festival in Norway, in front of thousands and thousands of people,” Milligan, 26, says. “It was me and Joe Nichols and the rest of the singers were Norwegian, singing in Norwegian but it was real country! And you could tell they loved real country music. That one blew me away. I I said to myself: “Who? would have thought so?’”

Milliganwho first rose to fame playing Presley on the series CMT Sun Recordsthen placed third on America’s Got Talent in 2022 for his song “Sounds Like Something I’d Do”.

After his song “Honky Tonkin About” reached number one on the Canadian country music charts, he and his band made a special appearance on a AGT Results party in 2023. He recently finished a year-long tour and is looking forward to a little break.

“It’s been a bit of a crazy year,” Milligan says of her growing popularity around the world. “I mean, we’ve been all over the world. I feel like we’ve played a million shows this year, and now I’m not tired anymore.”

Another place the Texas native says he’s met “real blue country fans” on his tour?

“Australia,” he notes. “I played a festival last year near Brisbane, Queensland, and I looked at the crowd, and you’d think I’m in Texas. It’s like cowboys and cowgirls. I want say, the real deal I was like, that’s crazy. And they love having a good time there, I’ll tell you that! country music, you’d think they lived in Texas.

Milligan deeply appreciates her growing fan base. “We had a real tour bus this year,” he tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “No more vans!”

“I’m starting to look back on this year and be really grateful,” he continues. “I’ve lived in Nashville for about seven years now, and I think the guy who moved to town would be very, very excited about where he is now.”

He adds: “I just want to continue to make a name for myself and be able to do it for as long as possible, and do it at a high level.”

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Milligan also knows he will also be back in Europe sooner rather than later, performing for his Scandinavian fans.

“I can almost sell more tickets there than in Texas!” he said. “Mostly because they like the more traditional sound of country music, the fiddles, that kind of thing, which I do too. And they like the early rock and roll – Orbison and Elvis. And so they just appreciate my style of music in a different way than most people.