“Ali Handal’s reputation has centered around her big riffs, burning yet melodic solos, and huge voice”
~ Guitar Player Magazine
“A triumph… From the first measure of the rocking “You Get What You Settle For,” you know you’re in good hands.”
~ Paul Zollo, American Songwriter Magazine
“Chock full of cleverly crafted lyrics and catchy hooks, Handal doesn’t skimp in the killer guitar performance department.”
~ Guitar World
“I grew up believing the music industry myth that if you didn’t “make it” by the ripe old age of 30,
you might as well quit,” reflects lead guitarist and singer-songwriter Ali Handal. “But I couldn’t
quit. Music was my passion, and at 30, I had barely accomplished anything…I was just getting
started.”
Ali was born in White Plains, New York, but spent most of her childhood in Armonk. Her first
instrument was piano, which she started when she was four. Ali’s earliest musical obsession
was Carole King’s album, Tapestry, and, as a young girl, she was headed in a soft rock singer-
songwriter path, studying piano and vocals.
She moved with her family to the Bay Area when she was 12. There she discovered Led
Zeppelin, and her world was changed forever, and her ambition defined. From that moment on,
it was all about the guitar. “I wanted to be Jimmy Page,” she said. She started on a little
acoustic, and went electric as soon as she could, ultimately swapping her acoustic for an
airbrushed-dragon Fernandez Explorer purchased at a Berkeley music shop.
The fact that, with very few exceptions, there existed no role-models for what she wanted to do
– be a lead-guitarist – led her to conclude it simply couldn’t be done. “I liked Joan Jett,” she
said, “but she wasn’t a lead guitarist. There wasn’t anyone doing what I wanted to do. I didn’t
really think it was possible. It didn’t really register as something I could do in the real world. Until
I was older.”
In high school she did more singing than playing – with the school choir, and in musicals (she
was Amaryllis in Oklahoma). A straight-A student in both high school and college, her true
nature was revealed mostly by her choice of boyfriends, virtually every one of whom was a long-
haired rock guitarist. Come college time, she went first to Occidental and then to UCLA, wanting
to be in Los Angeles “because that’s where I thought all the rock music was.” She graduated
summa cum laude with a Psych degree and was driven to pursue a career in that field, but the
potential of a life in music haunted her. “I was miserable,” she said. “Every time I saw music on
TV, I was unhappy. I knew I could be successful outside of music. But I realized that doing
anything other than music didn’t make sense. When I’m doing music is the only time I feel
spiritually in synch.”
She moved into a house full of musicians in North Hollywood, supporting herself with odd jobs
while seriously studying and wood-shedding on the guitar. “I had to be willing to suck at first,”
she said. “Something I’d never done. But that’s what it takes.” About the first band she joined,
she just laughed and said, “We took really awesome photos.”
Soon she was stepping into the role of lead guitarist and back-up singer in many bands,
including a two-year stint with one band, to which she dedicated herself exclusively and pinned
all her career hopes. When the band leader suddenly threatened to walk away from the band
and leave Ali with nothing for her investment in time and effort, she realized the time had come
to devote herself to her own music. She started playing solo – singing her own songs – and took
every opportunity to get onstage she could find, from open mike nights to gigs at Starbuck’s and
assorted cafes like Coffee Junction in Tarzana, where she had her first gig as a solo artist. She
swiftly surmised that crowds liked drama and flash and distinguished herself from other women
on the scene by bringing rock histrionics to her acoustic shows.
“I learned three things right away,” she said, “people love it when I bleed, when I scream and
hurt my voice, and when I play really fast, even on acoustic guitar. They liked when I’d do
something more masculine, energy-wise, something loud and fast.”
It’s then she formed the first of many back-up bands, starting, ala Hendrix, as a guitar-bass-
drums trio before expanding into a quartet with the addition of a back-up singer/rhythm guitarist.
Much gigging ensued, at festivals, parties, as an opening act, and at all the clubs throughout
Los Angeles, such as the Mint, the Viper Room, the House of Blues and the Lighthouse. On her
debut album, Dirty Little Secret, for which she wrote and arranged all the songs and played all
the guitars, she explored themes of love, lust, and life in aggressively funky rockers and tender
ballads, all unified by her impassioned and dynamic vocals. “Dirty Little Secret flat-out rocks,”
wrote Performing Songwriter. “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.”
Songs from this record began being placed in movies, such as Dancing at the Blue Iguana.
“They liked my funky stuff the best,” she says. “They tend to use my music when there are
strippers and hookers in a scene. In Blue Iguana, Darryl Hannah strips to my song.”
Writers and musicians alike soon caught on to the vast scope of her musicianship, likening her
funky rhythm guitar style to John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Jimmy Nolen (James
Brown), while recognizing that her lead playing reveals the influence of blues-rock gods such as
Jimmy Page, Joe Perry and Joe Walsh. On her sophomore CD Breathing Underwater, she
wrote and delivered songs in an even more intimate style, leading Guitar World to write that it’s
“drenched with her lush acoustic guitar work and hushed vocals.” Many TV shows such as “Sex
In The City” and “Dawson’s Creek” continued to featured her songs, as did many movies,
including Emmet’s Mark, Pursuit of Happiness and The Assistants.
Ali’s even familiar to viewers of “The Price Is Right” – when an electric guitar is the prize, rather
than have one of their regular show models pretend to play it, they invite Ali to show how it’s
really done. “I wish that guitar came with Ali Handal,” said host Drew Carey on the show, quickly
adding, “Ali Handal’s talent on guitar!”
