All Mitchell Ferguson did was post a silly parody to TikTok, and he may have just mumbled his way right into a hit.
“I'm super grateful, but it was definitely an accident,” Ferguson says with a chuckle.
In early December, Ferguson recorded a video of himself playing guitar and muttering jibberish between stereotypical country lyrics such as, “So we gonna!” and “So, I drank a beer!” with the caption, “This is legitimately how most pop country songs are born.”
The Dallas-born musician didn't have any grand plans when he uploaded the video. But it blew up, and the comments section quickly filled with people praising the parody, pointing out that the song was just as catchy as it was funny.
“Bro just wrote a top 10 radio hit accidentally,” a TikTok user said.
“Morgan Wallen been real quiet since this dropped,” another commented.
After seeing the video’s success, Ferguson fleshed out a full verse and posted it the very next day. Each video now has over 1 million views, and it’s all because of a goofy idea that Ferguson thought might get some laughs.
“I literally was on a walk and was just praying, like, ‘God, give me the best ideas,’” Ferguson says. “Later that day I just had the thought to make that little video and then it started going crazy.”
Within a month, what started out as a joke has become a full-fledged song that will soon be available to stream.
“It’s pretty much done,” Ferguson says. “Super, super proud of that and excited to get it out as soon as possible.”
After laying everything down in the studio, Ferguson felt like the tune needed one last touch before he let it loose: locally sourced crowd vocals.
“This coming Thursday, we're recording crowd group vocals to put on the song live in person at the Avenue Sports Grill on Lower Greenville,” Ferguson says an hour before posting the call to action. “It’s a bar that I've been playing at for the last several years, and they're like family to me. We've played a million shows there, so we're inviting anyone and everyone who wants to come out.”
Completely separate from his sudden burst of virality, Ferguson had been hard at work on an EP, Y'all Take Requests? (Live Vol.1), which came out earlier this month. The record’s four tracks are pulled from completely different corners of the catalog and normally wouldn’t be found together on a playlist, but Ferguson delivers each one with his deep, coarse voice and a countrified twist.
“The sound we’ve been creating over the last couple of years is fairly expansive and a little in between genres, so we wanted to cover a decent bit of that ground,” Ferguson says regarding his song selection.
As for the EP’s title, that’s a nod to every gigging musician who’s been asked to cover a song more times than they can count.
“Here’s the thing: If someone asks with the right attitude, I’m more than happy to [take requests],” Ferguson says. “Typically, what you’re getting asked is, ‘Do you know “Tennessee Whiskey?” Garth Brooks?’ Yes, I do know that, and I will play it, but we wanted to pick some songs that were outside of that box. Yeah, we know “Neon Moon,” but let’s do Frank Ocean instead.”
Ferguson breathes new life into The Fray’s “Over My Head,” a great song that everyone’s heard one too many times, and the world might never receive a new Frank Ocean track, so luckily Ferguson came through with his cover of Channel Orange’s “Thinkin Bout You.” For a guy twice her size, he fully embodies the unshakeable spirit of Miley Cyrus for his version of “The Climb.”
“We were going through and picking the songs we wanted to do, and the first time I sat down with that song it made me cry just looking through it,” Ferguson says. “It’s funny, because we used to make fun of my younger cousins for watching Hannah Montana when we were little shithead kids, but that one definitely grew on me.”
Ferguson tears down the wall with his rendition of The 1975’s “All I Need To Hear.” The track’s satin-smooth vocals, fuzzy guitar and airy piano are exchanged for a slowly strummed guitar and labored, pain-stricken whines from Ferguson. He drags over every word like boots caked in mud, each lyric steeped in sorrow.
“That's one of my favorite songs,” Ferguson says. “I got into The 1975 really hard within the past like two years. I know they've been around for a decade-plus, but I just got into them this past year. When I heard that song, I was like, ‘Man, this is, this is incredible.’”
Just like when Johnny Cash blew everyone away with his cover of “Hurt” and was praised both by fans and by Trent Reznor, Ferguson’s been given a big pat on the back from the song’s original artist.
“Matthew Healy, the frontman of The 1975, shared that video on his Instagram story and said that it was better than the original,” Ferguson says excitedly. “That's like the highest compliment we could ever receive.”
With this EP done and dusted, Ferguson is looking toward his next release and plans to continue leaning into his country roots.
“What I’m learning about myself is I just use my voice as an instrument,” Ferguson says. “Some projects tend to lend my voice five degrees more this way or five degrees more country, but the next project that we have on deck is certainly a country record.”
And just to clear up any confusion: Ferguson’s video was recorded and posted in good fun — he doesn’t hate pop country.
“I love a lot of pop country,” Ferguson says. “Just like any genre, there’s stuff that you vibe with more than others. I’m a big fan of Morgan Wallen, Ernest, Hardy and a lot of the artists in the genre. The original video was intended to laugh at the absurdity of songwriting that can often turn into something really impactful. There’s so much great, quippy songwriting in country music, and a lot of the creative process is so funny for some people.”
This isn't the first time Ferguson has been inspired by absurdity. In 2023, he released a music video that mocked influencers.
If you’re looking for somewhere to drink a beer while listening to “Drink A Beer,” Ferguson’s next show is on New Year’s Eve at the Rusty Nickel Icehouse in Fort Worth, along with The Droptines and Dexter and The Moonrocks.
