WINNIPEG - Manitoba has it's own little drummer boy.

A Winnipeg teen has become the latest YouTube sensation after posting a music video for the Christmas tune "Little Drummer Boy." Sean Quigley is seen throughout the video playing his drum and walking in shorts around wintery Winnipeg while friends hold up signs wishing viewers a Merry Christmas in various languages.

The 16-year-old made the video and posted it for the enjoyment of a few friends. Instead, it has caught the eye of a California agent and has received almost one million hits.

"It basically exploded in my face and I just sort of watched it happen," said Quigley, dressed, as always, in shorts despite the winter chill. "It's been hard to find down time. It's good when I just get to hang out with my friends and pretend it didn't happen."

Music has been part of the teen's life. He picked up a drum shortly after he learned to walk and has never looked back.

"I probably sucked at first," he laughed. "I just sort of hit them and over a few years, I practised up."

The inspiration for Quigley's video, posted at the end of November, was simple.

"Jesus was the inspiration, obviously," he said. "It's about a little kid who just doesn't have anything to bring, but he's got his talent and he can play his drum. I think that's a message that just doesn't get across enough to people. Especially at Christmas time, we ought to focus on Jesus, not on presents and Santa Claus."

The video appears to have resonated with people everywhere. At a morning fundraiser where CDs of Quigley's song were sold to benefit a homeless shelter, one woman drove 1 1/2 hours to get an autographed copy for her daughter.

"You make me so proud to be a Winnipegger," wrote one viewer on Quigley's YouTube page. "Thank you for your awesome Christmas spirit that's spread worldwide."

Quigley believes the video touches people because it counters the increasing materialism of the season.

"I think people just really appreciate the innocence of it, the innocence of youth and what Christmas is really about," he said. "I think people really appreciate...how it's not about material things. It's not about all the traditions that we have here in North America. It's about Jesus and I think people really respect that."

His success hasn't really surprised those closest to him, although his meteoric rise in the public's eye has caught his dad off-guard. Bill Quigley, who has become his son's defacto manager, said there was no doubt his son had a bright future in music.

But the parents didn't realize how crazy life would become after he posted his video. Now his dad is trying to help him balance the sudden attention with the demands of his high-school math teacher.

"He's got a very good head on his shoulders," Bill Quigley said. "He's very mature for a 16-year-old. I think he'll be fine."

Quigley isn't the first Winnipegger to make a splash on YouTube. Eleven-year-old Maria Aragon's rendition of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" got 11 million hits in February after the singer herself retweeted a link to the video. Maria went on to sign a recording deal in her native Philippines and performed for Ellen DeGeneres, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Prince William and Kate.

Quigley now has a California agent who is handling "the business side" of his budding career. But the teen isn't sure what lies in store for him. The only thing he knows for sure is that his future will always involve music.

"Music is something I'll never stop doing"