Biography

Kyle Pudenz's appreciation for music began at an early age. Growing up, Kyle's musical taste was strongly influenced by his grandfather, an avid folk musician and banjo player. At the age of 8 he began taking classical violin lessons, which would become the technical foundation for all of his later musical endeavors. By the time he entered high school, he was on track for a career in classical music; he was a member of the Missouri All-State Orchestra for 3 consecutive years, played professionally with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra, and was selected by audition for solo masterclasses with virtuosi Brian Lewis (University of Texas at Austin) and Erin Keefe. But Kyle's focus took a new direction in the summer of 2009 when he met a local singer-songwriter named Brad Cunningham, and sat in with him for a performance at a local coffee shop. While the collaboration was intended to be nothing more than a fun experiment, it was immediately clear that this performance would not be their last together. Shortly after, Pudenz joined forces with Cunningham’s band to form Man in the Ring, a 5-piece folk rock group that drew influences from reggae, blues, and Americana. During Pudenz’s 3-year tenure with MITR, the band released 2 full-length albums, Man in the Ring (2009) and Live at the Blue Note (2010), as well as Cunningham’s solo album Midnight Choir (2012). Cunningham and MITR soon became one of central Missouri’s most popular bands, performing 2 consecutive years at Columbia’s “Roots n’ Blues n’ BBQ” festival, winning Inside Columbia Magazine’s title of “Best Local Band,” and touring both in and out of the state as far as San Francisco and Austin. It was also during his time with Man in the Ring that Pudenz began performing on electric violin and broadening his tonal palette with effects and extended-range instruments.

Although he departed from the band in 2012, playing with Man in the Ring had presented Kyle with an entirely new range of possibilities for himself and for his instrument. In order to further explore the potential of violin in non-classical styles, Pudenz moved to Nashville in 2011 to study Commercial Music at Belmont University. At Belmont, he had the opportunity to study privately with professors including Elisabeth Small, jazz/hot country fiddler Billy Contreras, and 6-string electric violinist Tracy Silverman. Kyle continued to expand upon his Classical roots while at Belmont; he was a winner of Belmont’s Classical Performers concerto competition in 2013, concertmaster of the university symphony orchestra, and played as a soloist with the Belmont Strings chamber ensemble on Christmas at Belmont, which aired nationally on PBS. But Belmont’s music program had much more to offer beyond classical music, giving Pudenz the opportunity to hone his skills in jazz, rock, pop, country, bluegrass, and contemporary Christian styles. He studied 7-string violin and contemporary solo/small ensemble arranging with Tracy Silverman, and had the opportunity to showcase these skills performing his own arrangements with Belmont’s Jazz String Quartet and World Fiddling Trio, as well as in his own solo recitals. Pudenz’s unique fusion of classical and popular styles was significantly highlighted when he was selected out of a national pool of applicants by audition to perform in two masterclasses at the 2014 American String Teachers’ Association national conference; a classical violin masterclass with Paul Kantor (Rice University), and an eclectic styles masterclass on 7-string violin with Christian Howes (Creative Strings Academy), performing these two classes back-to-back on the same day! After 3 1/2 years, Pudenz graduated from Belmont with a Bachelor of Music, summa cum laude.

In the years following his time with Barrage, Kyle has re-established himself as a touring sideman and session musician in Nashville. He has performed live with artists including Colt Ford, Honey County, Jared Blake, John Schneider, Jenna Paulette, Jenny Tolman, Laci Kaye Booth, Drake Milligan, and Billy Dawson. In the studio, he has worked as an arranger for clients such as The Piano Guys, Dallas String Quartet, and Carnival Cruise Lines, and his playing can be heard on recordings by Benjamin William Hastings, David Phelps, Kenny Lattimore, Lauryn Hill, Jasmine Cain, The Southern Gothic, Willow Hill, Dave Fenley, and more.

Many of Kyle Pudenz’s pursuits have been uniquely made possible by his use of a 7-string electric violin that he built himself! During his time with Man in the Ring, he became aware of the demand in popular music for an electrically amplified violin that could cover more than the standard 4-string pitch range, but was disappointed by the sound quality and price of commercially marketed electric violins available at the time. So Kyle and his father, a professional woodworker, set out to build their own. In 2010, they completed their first prototype 7-string electric violin, and almost immediately began experimenting with new ideas to improve their design. By the end of that year, Pudenz was performing with MITR exclusively on his own instruments. After Kyle’s move to Nashville, the father-son team enlisted the help of local luthiers and tech experts at Creation Audio Labs to improve the design and tone quality of their instruments which, after several more design regenerations, has led to the creation of Pudenz’s current lineup of 7-strings that he uses in the studio and on the road. They plan to begin custom-designing and selling their own line of 5, 6, and 7-string electric violins for other artists in the near future.

Kyle currently tours with Nashville recording artist RaeLynn, playing fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and backing vocals. He also performs select dates in Nashville and around the United States with a variety of independent artists, and works as a freelance studio musician & arranger on a wide variety of projects around Nashville. Kyle proudly plays and endorses equipment from Harper Guitars, Kepma Guitars, Glasser NY, Eventide Audio, Creation Audio Labs, Empire Ears, Access Bags & Cases, Triad-Orbit Advanced Stand Systems, and Mercury Magnetics.