Webb Kline - musician, songwriter's Blog On Digital Rodeo.com

Gifts for the World

http://www.digitalrodeo.com/WebbKline — 5/24/2008 6:00:00 PM

5/24/2008 6:00 PM

Gifts for the World is a radical new musical and reality TV concept that could make the entertainment industry the leader in the fight against global poverty, disease and child exploitation. This proposed pilot project, much of which is already established, could lead the way to solving some of humanity's most imminent problems. Please click on the hyperlink below and sign our petition in support of programming for the show, and to help us in our fight against poverty, disease and child exploitation.

Gifts For the World

Looking for a few good musicians for full-time project

http://www.digitalrodeo.com/WebbKline — 4/14/2008 5:00:00 AM

4/14/2008 5:00 AM

We are currently doing screenings as we prepare for auditions for what will be a nationally and internationally touring rock and roll Christmas concert series and reality TV show.

These will be full-time positions. Band members will participate in the creative process, and will be part of a weekly reality TV program. We will be working with homeless street kids and orphans in the country of Ukraine and possibly elsewhere as well. We will be taking on the challenge of transforming an impoverished village into a solvent, productive and growing community. It is a huge task, and sometimes a potentially dangerous one, and therefore, an ability to work with children, and a compelling desire to help the poor, oppressed and marginalized of society is an absolute prerequisite.

Base salaries will initially come from grant money and other investment sources, but a very substantial profit-sharing system will make this a very lucrative offer once the project is in full swing...

Together, we can turn tables

http://www.digitalrodeo.com/WebbKline — 2/11/2008 2:45:00 PM

2/11/2008 2:45 PM

OK, it’s time for a little soap-boxing here. I know this isn’t the way y’all do things in Nashville, but I’m a straight-shooter and I call the shots the way I see ‘em. I'm an incurable nonconformist--an old anti-establishment hippie to some.

Look, I mean no offense to anyone. What goes on in this town is a lot bigger and nastier than any of us. Those of us in the entertainment industry have been hornswaggled by corporate marketing and hype. Even the market moguls seldom understand the anatomy of this ‘belly-of-the-beast’ they are so much a part of, so don’t blame them. It is simply a cultural hegemony that has evolved to the point where slick marketing trumps true consumer appeal in determining how well a song or artist sells. In other words, if we have enough bucks behind us that we can get our name out there in enough places, with good advertising and sex appeal and all that tripe, people will buy into us for a season regardless how little we bring to the table as ent...

On a Wing and a Prayer

http://www.digitalrodeo.com/WebbKline — 2/11/2008 12:00:00 PM

2/11/2008 12:00 PM

If you haven't read the previous blog, please go back and read it first. And if you haven't gone over to Jon Roniger's Digital Rodeo site and listened to "The Way I Feel," then I suggest that you do that before reading the next blogs. Jon queries, why can't we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, build shelters for all of the homeless, and care for the old. It's a great song, and guys like Jon need to be supported because that is the kind of music that can change the world. I believe we can do all the things Jon talks about in his song. In following blogs, I am going to begin to share with you how we can all be a part of dramatic change in this world.

You see, my wife Stacey and I have kind of backed ourselves into a corner. We got involved with a small grassroots mission to help homeless kids in Ukraine. Then a couple of years ago, I began working with some of my songwriting buddies from PA writing Christmas music to be performed in an annual concert tour that would raise mo...

The Problem

http://www.digitalrodeo.com/WebbKline — 2/11/2008 8:00:00 AM

2/11/2008 8:00 AM

Today, I will briefly describe the depth of the horrors millions of children must face every day. Space is limited here, so you will have to wait to hear how, together, we can change this desperate situation--and still make a good living doing what we love to do most.

There is a global crisis facing humanity—children in particular—that is unparalleled in history. Every day 35000 children die from malnutrition-related causes. Thousands more die from AIDS, drug overdoses, suicide, and other social tragedies. Millions of children are homeless, most of them forced into prostitution, drug-dealing and other crimes in their fight to stay alive. In Thailand alone it is estimated that in excess of a million kids—many as young as six and seven years old—must perform sexual favors approximately one hundred times per month just to break even on survival.

In Ukraine, where our organization works with humanitarian rescue missions to save that cou...