10-27-2009
DANI-ELLE
DREAMS BIG
All was quiet in
the middle of the night in Jermyn when Basil Kleha
suddenly awoke, asking his wife, Debbie, if she heard
something.
As Debbie rubbed
her eyes, she and Basil sat up, listening to melodic
sounds he described as “angelic.”
They pulled
themselves out of bed and scurried into their 5-year-old
daughter Dani-elle’s room, and found her tucked under
the covers tight — eyes closed, sound asleep — belting
out music, but no particular song.
“It was extremely
high, sort of operatic,” Debbie said. “It’s just
melodies. It could be something from somewhere but
nothing I ever recognized. It was a music coming from
her — very, very high and in tune.”
The Klehas didn’t
think their little girl was possessed and in need of an
emergency exorcism. Singing in tune was nothing new for
her.
Dani-elle (she
goes only by that given first name, with the hyphen) had
been singing since before she could walk or talk,
literally, and performing live since well before she
could read. When she played in her crib as a baby, she’d
constantly hum, and she took the stage for the first
time at age 3.
“She wasn’t even
walking or talking and the ‘la-la-las’ were coming out,”
Debbie said. “She says she has a radio in her head.”
Now 13, that radio
still hasn’t worn out, although the power button might
be stuck. Dani-elle still sings whether she’s sleeping
or awake. “When she sings in her sleep she is
unbelievable,” Debbie said. “We really should tape it
sometime.”
In addition to her
bedtime serenades, Dani-elle is constantly recording and
performing. She started out with Broadway show tunes
before moving onto oldies. Country, however, complete
with hats and boots, is her first love.
She just released
the album “A Dani-elle Christmas,” which features
classic holiday favorites. She studies voice, guitar and
piano locally and also takes twice-monthly singing
lessons via speakerphone with Renee Grant Williams, a
renowned voice teacher based in Nashville, Tenn., whose
client list ranges from Christina Aguilera to Tim McGraw
to Bob Weir.
Dani-elle makes
frequent trips to Nashville and has recorded at the
historic Ryman Auditorium. She was accepted as a member
of the Country Music Association and will attend the CMA
Awards in November.
Earlier this month
she produced her first show, a parents’ club fundraiser
at her small private school, Saint Rose Academy in
Mayfield. The show featured her performance, as well as
Rich Wilson. Dani-elle handled all the booking,
promotion and even the timing of the event. She also
regularly sings at benefits for the United States
Military, UNICO, Little Leagues and the American Red
Cross Ball.
13 Going on 43
Her mother and
friends joke that Dani-elle was born at 30. Although
she’s an eighth grader and bares a resemblance to Miley
Cyrus, the songstress prefers to croon oldies from the
likes of Connie Francis or Patsy Cline instead of taking
the stage and launching into a stunning rendition of
“Poker Face.”
“I just like the
stories that they tell,” Dani-elle said of the oldies.
Still, while she’s
“always been called an old soul,” she has nothing
against the new stuff, as she’ll sing songs by Taylor
Swift, Martina McBride, and of course, “The Climb” by
Miley Cyrus. It’s all about finding a personal
connection to the material.
“Companies that
I’ve worked with have presented different songs to me,
and if I can’t get into it, and it doesn’t really mean
something to me, I just can’t do it,” Dani-elle said.
Her maturity is
obvious not only in the songs she prefers to sing but
also in the sound of her voice and offstage demeanor. As
she sat in her mother’s floral shop, Debbie’s Flowers,
her cover songs playing in the background, she
exemplified the poise and confidence of a seasoned
professional, not the giggling school girl many of
today’s celebrities twice her age might be perceived as.
Her own feelings
At age 9 Dani-elle
made her first foray into songwriting as she sat on the
couch, strummed on her guitar and was struck with
inspiration. “It was just a line,” she said. “And I was
like, ‘I could take this somewhere farther,’ and I
started writing, and ever since, I loved it.”
Her favorite
original song is “You’re Everything to Me,” which like
all of her writing, is drawn from real life. Right now,
the quest to become signed continues. The next steps
involve assembling a band, finding talented songwriters
to collaborate with and recording an album of original
songs.
And of course
continuing to “Dream Big,” which is how she signs her
autographs. “My parents tell me all the time when it
stops being fun, you don’t do it anymore,” Dani-elle
said.
She doesn’t even
give her vocal chords a break in her sleep, so it’s
doubtful that’ll happen anytime soon.
