Tildon Gillum

Tildon Gillum was born in Ada, Oklahoma. From a young age he showed a passion for music. He comes from a long line of musicians and singers on both sides of his family. Although music has always been one of Tildon's passion's, his first passion was rodeo. He competed in bull riding and bareback riding in the North Texas High School Rodeo Association in the early 90's then moved back to the family ranch in Oklahoma his senior year where he competed in the Oklahoma High School Rodeo Association. After high school, Tildon sought a professional career in rodeo in the IPRA but his gold buckle dreams were cut short with a career ending injury at age 19. From there, Tildon picked up an old acoustic guitar his grandfather had given him and learned a few chords. Tildon says laughingly, "I used to watch my grandfather play guitar and was always intimated by his style because it was like Chet Atkins, so I played drums first!" After Tildon started playing the guitar, he noticed that he loved coming up with songs and playing for his friends and in turn they always asked him to bring his guitar wherever they were. At age 27 Tildon became a Firefighter in his hometown of Ada. Six years later, Tildon was given the opportunity to be able to play music for a living and he took it. "Some people thought I was CRAZY!, for leaving the security of the fire service but I knew that it just wasn't for me. I have made some of the best friendships I'll ever have with my firefighter brothers and learned some important lessons, but I knew that music was it for me." With the support of his wife Melodie, his daughters Paris and Page and the rest of his family, Tildon crafted his guitar playing and songwriting skills and is getting ready to release his first album, "27 Miles to Empty." "I call my genre of music, Southern Americana Blue Dirt, because I have so many influences that I grew up listening to. From outlaw country such as Waylon and Willie to the Allman Brothers to Stevie Ray Vaughn. As long as it grooves and you can feel the power of it, to me that's good music!" 27 miles to empty