"God Bless the Children "
Inspired by the actions of The Heart Gallery, country artist Wayne Warner gathered a choir of musical all-stars consisting of Taylor Swift, Kevin Sharp, the Statler Brothers’ Jimmy Fortune, Elvis’ legendary Jordanaires, and many more to join him in a song and video project aimed at bringing attention to foster care and adoption needs.
Directed by award-winning John Lloyd Miller, the video became one
of the most successful PSAs for the Dave Thomas Foundation and went on to
encourage many to become new adoptive parents. The immense success of this
project is what prompted Warner to establish The Melodical Hearts Foundation
through which he hoped to continue using the power of positive music and
video to promote adoption and foster care awareness.
The making of "God
Bless the Children
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Major Rising - Chapter One
"Dare the World"
There is certainly strength in numbers, and that is the foundation of Major Rising.
The collaborative vocal talents of Bryan White, Kevin Sharp, Mila Mason,
Wayne Warner, Mark Collie, Jimmy Fortune, Linda Davis, and John Berry
churned out the radio-driven single “Dare the World”, a fun and upbeat
tune encouraging listeners not to give up on their dreams. “Just dream
your dream and dare the world to wake you up.” The power of that one
song eventually became the catalyst for the creation of a full compilation
album in which each of the artists contributed a song of their own.
CMA award winning radio personality Kevin Richards saw such inspiration and potential in the Major Rising project, he choreographed a dance for the “Dare the World” mix and invited several of the Major Rising artists to perform on his 2008 Country Cruise.
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(The Melodical Hearts Foundation is proud to highlight the other many great charities and foundations with which the Major Rising artists unite and support, which can be found here.)
Major Rising - Chapter Two
"Christmas Is"
With
“Dare the World” taking off, more artists expressed interest in joining
Major Rising. As a direct result of the
escalating appeal,
the second chapter to the project was almost immediately
launched. Joining the
existing cast were Aaron and Thea Tippin, Pam Tillis, David
Pomeroy, Becky Hobbs, Kathie Baillie, Lila McCann, and
Shawn King. Together, they created “Christmas Is”, an album that
ambitiously set
out to become
far more than just another disc rotating in the CD changer
during the holidays. In addition to weaving together a
wonderful combination of
songs, it also served to promote an “Online Virtual Angel
Tree” to help bring smiles to our nation’s children that
are in the “system”, that
are ill, or whose families are serving in uniform or have
simply fallen on difficult times.
Working in conjunction with Operation Troop Aid, The Melodical Hearts Foundation was also able to send 1,000 copies of the “Christmas Is” CD/DVD to deployed troops. All of the involved artists and their fans combined their efforts to demonstrate the power of compassion among country artists and listeners, making the second phase of Major Rising a complete success.
(The Melodical Hearts Foundation is proud to highlight the other many great charities and foundations with which the Major Rising artists unite and support, which can be found here.)
"Music That Matters"
FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION ABOUT "MUSIC THAT MATTERS", VISIT ITS MINI-SITE HERE
"Music That Matters" is a multi-album series merging positive songs from a variety of genres for the purpose of bringing awareness to many issues plaguing today's society.
To achieve this, regional independent artists are uniting with nationally acclaimed singers in a "help by all, to help all" approach to music, the first of its kind. Each state/region will be represented with a compilation album intertwining its own residential artists with the two star-studded songs “God Bless the Children”, and “Dare the World”. This will offer these local acts the opportunity to have their music featured on an album with high-profile artists, significantly enhancing their demographic by offering increased exposure and attaching their names to a cause supported by some of country music’s biggest acts.
In addition to these statewide productions, national compilations with an all-star roster will also be released. With foster care/adoption awareness serving as the first issue to address, “Music That Matters: 50 Files” is a soon-to-be-released CD/DVD combo aiming to eliminate the classification of being “files” from children in need of adoption, by reminding the world that they are much more than a simple manila folder tucked in a drawer—they are unique, loving children longing for a home. The title song on “50 Files” is a beautiful ballad which personifies the importance of this mission by sharing the perspective of a child "living in a file". The associated video will have one child from each state serve as a representative for the cause. "Music That Matters: 50 Files" features songs from many of your favorite artists who have been touched by foster care/adoption or have played a role in its advocacy. Among the artists confirmed are Reba McEntire, Lee Ann Womack, Mark McGuinn, Steven Curtis Chapman, Dolly Parton, and several other well-known names in the industry.
On April 5, 2009, "Music That Matters" made a cameo in the famous Sunday comic "NANCY". Guy Gilchrist, participating artist in the New England edition of the CD/DVD series and cartoonist for the legendary strip created a storyline in which young Nancy questions Aunt Fritzi's motives for adopting her. With an estimated audience of 70 million readers, it was an honor to be featured in such a historic and reknown strip.
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The Melodical Hearts Foundation, acknowleding the increasing urgency involved in the drug and alcohol epidemic, has also taken on the following project, which we encourage you to read about, as we need your help!
"Music That Matters: Epidemic X"
"Music That Matters: Epidemic X" is our latest project which is currently in its planning stages. Please see the letter below from Wayne Warner, founder of Melodical Hearts, for more information:
As many of you may know, being a dad of adopted children has certainly made it very meaningful to me to work on the “God Bless The Children” song/video. It made a huge impact on the adoptive community, and I thank my friends Taylor Swift, The Jordanaires, Kevin Sharp, Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers, and many more for offering their talents to help make this project the success it was.
In addition to being a dad and a Nashville recording artist, I am also a recovering alcoholic, gratefully 17 years sober. While this personal history is one that has never been “put out there”, I now feel the need to wear the title publicly and boldly so it may allow me to make as much of a difference as possible. The drug and alcohol issue has become an epidemic that is killing far too many of our nation's youth and tearing families apart. In fact, it took my best friend whom I miss every single day.
Like the “God Bless The Children” project, I will once again be uniting with my associated organization, The Melodical Hearts Foundation. We are seeking tribute photos from as many broken hearts as possible of those who have been taken from us. This will be for a Nashville song/video project which will raise awareness of the dangers of drug and alcohol use, getting the message out in a way too often void of the cause. These photos are powerful and potentially graphic, but we must tell the truth. Also, we are seeking individuals touched by this epidemic to be involved with the project from the beginning of its production, so that we may receive input, guidance and above all, passion. The more help we can get, the faster and louder this gets out, and as you and I sadly know – it must be done with an “urgency of now!”
This project must belong to those we have lost and to those they love. We need their help and yours to make as much noise as possible. This will serve as both a memorial for—and a warning from—those who have been taken by this powerful grip.
For more information, or to participate in the "Epidemic X " song/video project, please contact Juanita Lee at juanitalee@melodicalhearts.org.
Thank You,
Wayne Warner
Excerpt from “Black and White Rainbows”:
I know the pain, well it won’t ever stop
The hurt is the gift; you’re worth every tear drop
If life is a mountain, then you’re on the top
We’ll be right down here, with memories we’ve got
Wayne has agreed to allow the song “Black and White Rainbows” to be co-written by those who have been taken (he does believe they’re involved) and by those who remain still afflicted. Therefore, it is our goal to have thousands of “songwriters” listed among the credits of this song, resulting in a CD booklet filled with names of those representing the urgency of this deadly epidemic.
The Melodical Hearts Foundation is thrilled by this exceptionally unique approach that will raise funds to promote this project, to insight media attention, and memorialize those we have lost in an abrupt and tragic way like no other.
For example:
“BLACK AND WHITE RAINBOWS”
Writers:
Wayne Warner for R. Thompson, Pam for Kelli, Julie for Eddie Danforth,
The Lowell Family for Timmy, J. Tetreault for Amanda, Bianca for Travis,
Danny for Brian Dunn, Friskel Enterprises for Herbert Livingston, www.{sitenamehere}.com
for Jackie M……
The more names we have, the LOUDER this gets.
The Melodical Hearts Foundation, at Wayne’s request, has made this our top priority. We would like the song recorded and the video made as quickly as possible, so we can let our loved ones’ message be heard in an effort to save lives. We need your help to do this.
To pay tribute to your loved one and memorialize them in a unique and powerful way, please consider a contribution of $100 to add their name to the list of songwriters. After all, it is their voices as individuals who have cried out the need for awareness. Now, united and immortalized in song, they can be heard louder and more compellingly as a symphony of angels. As Wayne mentioned in his letter, photos are needed for the associated video, bringing faces to those we have lost which make up the “colors of our rainbows”. While only a limited number of photos can be used in a three minute video, we urge you to submit yours with your angel’s story/information and permission for use. We promise to use as many as we possibly can.
All monetary contributions are tax deductible and will be used solely for the production of the “Black and White Rainbows” video, the pressing of the CDs, printing of the accompanying artwork, as well as for promotional tools used to get your loved one’s voice heard in schools, churches, etc.
PLEASE HELP SPREAD THIS LETTER NATIONWIDE!
Thank you,
Juanita Lee
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT "MUSIC THAT MATTERS", VISIT ITS MINI-SITE HERE