Kyle Dillingham is a violinist from Enid, Oklahoma who has performed in over 40 countries.[1]
Kyle Dillingham is the son of artist Diane Dillingham of Enid, Oklahoma.[2] In childhood he lived on a farm in Waukomis, Oklahoma.[3] Dillingham graduated Enid High School in 1997 and was awarded the Pride of the Plainsmen award in 2014.[4] He earned a Bachelor's degree in instrumental performance from OCU in 2002.[5]
Dillingham started playing violin at age 9.[1] He played with Roy Clark in Enid in 1995,[6] and first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry at age 17 in 1996.[1][7][8] In 2019 he played violin at the Grand Ole Opry while riding on a skateboard.[5][9] Teaming up with guitarist Peter Markes, Dillingham played concerts in Malaysia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[10] Markes and Dillingham met at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute while still in high school,[11] and studied together at Oklahoma City University.[10] In 2009 Dillingham represented the University of Central Oklahoma on a trip to Korea,[12] and was named "Oklahoma's Musical Ambassador" by Governor Brad Henry.[3] In 2014 Dillingham toured Liberia as an envoy for the state department.[13] He appears as a jazz violinist in Scorsese's film Killers of the Flower Moon.[5] Dillingham has also toured, backing Michael Martin Murphey.[5][14] Edmond, Oklahoma named the Kyle Dillingham Community Arts Stage after him in 2022.[15]
Kyle Dillingham formed the band Horseshoe Road in April 2005 with Dustin Jones and Brad Benge and recorded their first album Home Fires.[16] The trio toured in Japan and Thailand and were filmed for an OETA documentary.[16] The current lineup includes Peter Markes and Brent Saulsbury.[17][18] In 2015 they toured Taiwan, Burma, Russia and South Korea for the U.S. State Department's American Music Abroad program.[18] In 2017 Horseshoe Road toured in China, and they were the first American country band to play Dunhuang.[17] In 2018 and 2019 the band toured Kosovo and Kuwait for the U.S. State Department's American Music Abroad program.[15]