Ali Handal

"Sultry songstress Ali Handal knows her way around a great song and a magnetic performance."
~ Fender Frontline Live - Fender Frontline Live

“Ali’s live performance was a smashing success, turning heads of Rock Radio Program Directors at Sunset Sessions Rock!” ~ Michele Clark, Founder of Sunset Sessions ROCK - Sunset Sessions ROCK!

I’ve kept in touch with Ali since she released her first CD Dirty Little Secret in 2000. Her second CD, Breathing Underwater (2004) was more polished, and a bittersweet collection of songs about relationships.

Fast forward to 2011 - she really busted out of her shell, lost herself in the music and words and created her best sound to date. The CD, Make Your Move, kicks off with the killer guitar slinger “All the Way.” There are lots of rocking cuts here that show off Ali’s masterful guitar playing. Any of her heroes, Jimmy Page, Joe Perry or Joe Walsh would be proud to play along. This is one cool chick who knows how to make the axe do the talkin’.

Born in New York, but calling California home this spunky girl has danced with Janet Jackson, sang on Neil Young’s Living With War album, written with songwriting legend Paul Williams, performed at the late Michael Jackson’s Neverland Valley Ranch and more. She’s so busy she about forgot to send me the CD.

“Jim — I just found it! In my car, in a bag with some other CDs I thought I had already sent out! I’ll bring them all to the post office today,” Ali said a few weeks ago.

Thanks Ali, it’s a great one.

www.alihandal.com

By Jim Clark
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011 11:34 AM CDT - Lee County Courier

ALI HANDAL had a fairly unorthodox introduction to the music industry, by performing guitar on the TV show The Price Is Right!. That’s right, she was the woman who demonstrated how to play the exciting new guitars that were given away as prizes.

“The first time I performed on The Price Is Right!, it was pretty nerve-wracking – especially because I was being presented on this revolving carousel while playing electric guitar. It was fun, but surreal,” the American singer-songwriter says of the experience.

Since those early days, Ali has created quite a name for herself as a strong female musician, standing alongside the likes of Ani DiFranco and Alanis Morissette. Singing songs ranging from the topics of love to covers of The Knack’s My Sharona, Ali is as diverse as she is charming.

“I’ve always loved My Sharona. When I was growing up, I thought it was the sexiest song I’d ever heard,” Ali reminisces. “Ironically, my girl version of the song has more ‘balls’ than the original – it’s much heavier!”

The track is featured on Ali’s third album, Make Your Move, and sits alongside a mix of slower ballads and aggressive rock songs, all set to the tune of Ali’s superior guitar skills.

When it comes to her favourite songs, Ali doesn’t like to pick and choose. “I don’t have just one favourite track – I have about six, which doesn’t narrow it down much, does it?”

Luckily for us, Ali will be down under touring this month playing a grand total of four shows in Canberra (that’s right, FOUR shows), and even one in Queanbeyan. Never before has Canberra been shown this much love by a musician. “I am extremely excited about my upcoming tour!” Ali gushes. “I first visited Australia in the early 1990s and I fell in love with the country, the people and the koalas.”

Those marsupials are a huge crowd pleaser. The Australian landscape has also been an influence on Ali’s music. “The Great Barrier Reef was the first place I tried scuba diving and I absolutely fell in love with it. That experience had a profound effect on me, so much so that years later I wrote a song and entitled my second CD Breathing Underwater.”

And have Australian musicians had any kind of effect on Ali? “As far as Australian musicians I admire – all I can say is ‘for those about to rock, we salute you!’ I saw AC/DC in concert while I was growing up, and to quote (exactly) my teenage concert diary, ‘AC/DC was baaaad!!! The Jack was the BEST!!!’”

I can imagine some teenage girls having similarly effusive reactions to Ali herself after they see her play live. With her crazy hooks and sultry vocals, it’s hard not to become addicted. And the good news is that there’s at least a week’s worth of gigs to keep you satisfied!

Catch Ali Handal at the first of a number of Canberra performances at the Front Gallery in Lyneham on Saturday November 13. For more details on the other shows, head to alihandal.com. - BMA Magazine - Canberra Australia's Premiere Free Entertainment Guide

Ali Handal on Jamming Out Riffs - by Michael Molenda

After Led Zeppelin trashed her youthful enthusiasm for piano lessons, and more or less fused a guitar into her hands, all Ali Handal wanted to be was Jimmy Page. But while she didn't grow up to be a Page clone, Handal did manage to steal some of the Zep wizard's knack for unleashing ballsy and beguiling guitar parts. Her new CD, Make Your Move [alihandal.com], is a melange of riff-fueled rockers that could stand up to anything broadcast on The Midnight Special in the '70s, dreamy singer/songwriter fare, funk workouts, and ballads spritzed with Beatles essence.

The project's diverse 6-string sounds were constructed with the help of Handal's "guitar guru," Bob DeMarco of Nurvilicious Studios in Camarillo, California, who encouraged her to experiment with various gear combinations until she found something "delicious."

"My voice isn't particularly 'rock,' because it's not male and it's not raspy," says Handal. "So I need killer guitar tones to deliver the edge, punch, and attitude that get the point across. Therefore, I like to hit the front end of the amp really hard using a boost pedal - a trick I learned from Bob - because the right boost makes it seem like your amp's speakers are exploding, and that sound can add incredible energy to a track."

Handal's Make Your Move armory included three boosters - a Catalinbread Serrano Picoso, an Analog Man Beano Boost, and a Pete Cornish TB-83 - as well as her trusty 1998 American Standard Telecaster, two Les Pauls (a '69 Custom and a '59 Special), a '65 blackface Fender Princeton Reverb (her go-to amp), a Snarling Dogs Whine-O Wah, and "every pedal known to mankind."

To write the riff for the album-opening "All the Way," Handal sat on her bed and played along to Queen's "We Will Rock You" - but she wasn't weaving around Brian May's guitar parts.

"To get out of ruts, I'll often play around with the vocal melody of a song I really love," says Handal, who attacks her solos with Page-like fire, abandon, and gritty melodicism. "That approach gets me out of the normal fingering patterns I'd use. So the 'All the Way' riff was a result of me jamming with Freddie Mercury, and then going off on various tangents."

While her Telecaster is now almost a constant musical companion, it wasn't exactly an instantaneous seduction.

"It was a journey," she admits. "Before my Telecaster, I always used a Strat for clean parts, and a Les Paul for heavier sounds. But once I tried the Tele, I realized what a versatile instrument it is. It's more intense than a Strat for the funky parts I like to play, and it delivers a great crunch sound. It also didn't hurt to learn that Jimmy Page recorded most of Led Zeppelin with a Telecaster." - New Bay Media

"Handal attacks her solos with Page-like fire, abandon, and gritty melodicism...Her new CD, Make Your Move [alihandal.com], is a melange of riff-fueled rockers that could stand up to anything broadcast on The Midnight Special in the '70s, dreamy singer/songwriter fare, funk workouts, and ballads spritzed with Beatles essence." - Guitar Player Magazine

"Talented and beautiful, Handal was selected as "Miss June" for Epiphone's 2005 calendar..."Breathing Underwater" is drenched with her lush acoustic guitar work and hushed vocals.

"Breathing Underwater is an introspective and emotionally bittersweet album. And while there's a lot of fingerstyle playing and sonic textures, it's also quite bare." - Guitar World Acoustic

"If you can imagine Sheryl Crow 20 years ago, you already know Ali Handal. With a songwriting style similar to Crow's, she comes across just as earthy, natural and real. Influenced by folk, rock and alternative genres, Handal's songs have quirky perspectives that give her musical observations a sense of street credibility."

"There�s something very inviting about Handal... it's an intimacy that beckons the audience to her. As Handal's set progressed, the crowd kept moving forward, inching closer and closer to the stage until they were leaning right on the edge of it. Slowly and sensuously, Handal welcomed them all with a warm smile and personal commentary. This connection formed a bond with her fans that was impressive."
~Bernard Baur - Music Connection Magazine

"Ali Handal's record Dirty Little Secret flat-out rocks. Coming off as some child of Ani DiFranco and Jimmy Page, Handal has the guitar chops and fierce voice to knock you on your butt. From the John Frusciante/Chili Peppers-styled funk intro of "Slave to Ambition" to the fluid acoustic fingerpicking on "Distance," Handal's guitar work is impressive.

Whether she's slurring through a sex-drenched number, crooning a ballad or singing a bizarre funk tune to her cat (who makes a special vocal appearance), Handal proves to be a compelling vocalist. As a guitarist and writer, she's equally at home on funk and straight-up rock tunes and is at her best howling through blood-pumping, feedback-drenched rockers."
- Performing Songwriter Magazine

"Dirty Little Secret explores the slippery emotional terrain between the soul connection we all long for and the physical attraction we'll sometimes settle for on a Saturday night.." - Main Street Songwriters Showcase

"Ali is not only an exceptional singer-songwriter, but a kick ass guitarist! And I don't mean she's a good guitarist a la folk singer Jewel, or she's "good for a girl". I mean she's a kick-ass guitarist, electric and acoustic, a la Chrissie Hynde meets Ani DiFranco meets Prince." - Live Magazine

"Ali swings her axe with the big boys on her debut disc Dirty Little Secret." - GuitarOne Magazine