Kale

Bleue Lleuad takes the stage... the lights dim, and the slender girl at center stage cradles the microphone in her hand. Dark hair swings forward to shield brown eyes from the view of the public. She seems to hide there for a moment, despite standing in full view.

Then the music begins. Soft but strong, with a celtic sound. First the drum machine, fading in slowly, then the keyboards tripping, and the thrum of the guitar.

The girl's eyes close, and she sways to the music. Then she begins to sing, her smoky voice lifting to join the sound, swirling out through the audience to intoxicate the listeners. Her eyes open, and she stands straighter, as if the music bolsters her and changes her. Suddenly she is open, and huskily vibrant, vibrating as she channels the music. She feels it, and the audience feels it with her. She carries them along with her on the wild high ride.

In the middle of one song she introduces them. Dale, on the keyboards, blond and tall. She smiles when she says his name, glancing over at him, and he glances back with a slight crook of a smile. Then Damien on guitar, dark serious, intense and intent upon the music. And then herself. Simply Kale.

And then she returns to the music, sliding along until the set is done. As the music fades her voice fades with it, and slowly she once again retreats. Her hands hold onto the microphone tightly again, her eyes close, and her head bows. And she is once again the girl who stepped onto the stage. Nothing special -- just a too skinny girl in a tie-dye shirt and worn jeans, sandals upon her feet and blunt cut ragged brown hair.

She bows, and leaves the stage.