BIO
Allen & Jill Kirkham are the Academy of Western Artists (AWA) 2019 Western Group of the Year Award Recipients, and Legends of Dakota Country Music Hall Of Fame Inductees!
News Release! Allen & Jill are International Western Music Association (IWMA) Top 5 Nominees for 2023 Duo-Group of the Year!
Allen & Jill are husband and wife Traditional Western Music performing artists from Custer, South Dakota. They feature singer-song writer Allen Kirkham on vocals, yodels, guitar and mandolin, and Jill Kirkham on vocals, story teller, bass, and harmonica. They are South Dakota Arts Council Touring Artists, and South Dakota Humanities Scholars performing a musical presentation of "A History Of Traditional Western Music" at Western Heritage Centers, Museums, Historical Societies, National Parks, State Parks and visitors centers throughout South Dakota. Allen & Jill are 5-Time International Western Music Association (IWMA) Top 5 Nominees, and 2015 Cowboy Idol Winners!
Allen & Jill are National Award Winning Radio Hosts-DJs on The International Western Music Association (IWMA) 2023 Radio DJs & Radio Program of the Year "Circuit Rider Roundup with Allen & Jill", a syndicated 2-Hour Western Gospel radio show, with a Lisentership of 800,000+, every Sunday from our flagship station KJAG 107.7 FM, Guthrie, Texas, and simulcast on the Academy Of Western Artists 2022 Radio Station Of The Year "American Cowboy Radio" on www.AmericanCowboyRadio.com. We are broadcast on over a dozen radio stations throughout Texas and the Southwest. (See our Circuit Rider Roundup Radio Page).
Allen & Jill are Featured Western Artists at the Chuckwagon Supper Shows at the High Plains Western Heritage Center & Museum in Spearfish, South Dakota. They have performed as professional western musicians in stage shows, supper shows, and chuckwagon dinner shows throughout the Black Hills, and throughout the American West since moving from Colorado in 2013.
Allen & Jill acted as "Extras" in a Western Movie filmed in Custer South Dakota and the Black Hills in September 2019.
Their "Allen & Jill Cowboy Classics" CD was released to Western Music Radio DJs on May 1st 2019 and was awarded the "Traditional Western CD of the Year 2019" by the National Traditional Country Music Association, Rural Roots Music Commission!
Their "Sunrise On The Prairie" CD was released to International Western Music Association Radio DJs in January 2018, and was awarded the "Original Western CD of The Year 2018" by the National Traditional Country Music Association, Rural Roots Music Commission!
Allen's original title song "Sunrise On The Prairie" debuted at #1 played on radio by Western Music DJs worldwide, our first #1 song on Radio!
Allen is retired US Air Force and US Army. He is a retired Worship Pastor.
Jill is a professional artist , photographer, retired High School teacher and golf coach, and a National Award Winning amateur golfer!
Allen and Jill are both members of the US Marshals Posse, South Dakota Chapter, providing mounted traffic control at major events in the Black Hills.