It’s easy to root for an independent artist like Kim Kline to become the next great rock star. On top of her amazing vocals and songwriting abilities, Kline is about as genuine of a person as you’ll ever meet in the music industry, let alone life in general.
“I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve a little bit,” admits the Graham, Texas native. “I like to treat other people the way I like to be treated. I think good things happen for good people. You know, life is a blessing.”
Kline’s musical career started in her early teen years when she started competing in beauty pageants to showcase her singing ability. But she admits that her journey actually started much earlier. “I was totally the little girl that did her hair and makeup in the mirror and was singing with a brush thinking I was a rock star,” she confesses with a laugh.
Kline’s passion for music originated from her mother, who she says “doesn’t have the best voice in the world,” but was a student of voice in school. “She instilled music in me very early on,” Kline says. “Just good rock ‘n’ roll. Anything from the ’70s on.”
Some of that good old-fashioned music that influenced Kline included such artists as Led Zeppelin, Tina Turner, The Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Pat Benatar and Jimi Hendrix. In high school, Kline began working in fashion and started traveling to Dallas, where many began to take notice of her gift. It was then that she started to realize that her dreams of a musical career had the potential for reality.
“I’ve always had that gusto behind me with my vocals,” Kline admits. I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve really got something here.'”
After high school, Kline began flying to L.A. and New York when she was offered a position in fashion as a sales rep. Whenever she landed in L.A., Kline would make it a point to work on her music. She eventually realized that she needed to relocate if she ever wanted to fully pursue her dream.
As she recalls, “I said to myself, ‘I can’t go back and forth between L.A. and Texas when people are living there doing it day in and day out. If I’m going to be serious about this, I’ve got to make the move.'”
So Kline left her Texas roots for L.A. a few years ago and went about making a name for herself in a town already overstocked with big dreamers. Her licensing attorney arranged for a meeting with acclaimed music entertainment law firm Felcher & Freifeld (whose clients have included Pink, Nas and The Fugees), and Kline was signed on the spot. “They’ve been absolutely amazing,” Kline says. “I’m very blessed. I have a very strong team around me.”
Kline originally trained with Ron Anderson, best known for his work with the Rolling Stones, No Doubt and Janet Jackson. But since her arrival in L.A., she’s managed to collaborate with a who’s who list of writers, producers and musicians, including: Evan Rodaniche (Cage 9, The Willowz, Big City Rock), Mike Sarkisyan (Grammy-nominated guitarist/producer), Tommy Decker (Grammy-nominated drummer/producer), and PJ Smith (Live, Something Corporate). These days, Kline spends most of her time with Robb Torres (J.D. Natasha, The Rising, Volumen Cero), as well as Eddie Galan and Sean Alexander (LeAnn Rimes, Steven Tyler, Disney’s High School Musical). She is also working with renowned vocal technique and performance coach Steven Memel, who has trained such artists as Adam Levine and members of Maroon 5, Taryn Manning of Boomkat, Brittany Murphy and Big City Rock.