“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.”
Now, at 55, Ali is releasing her fifth album of gutsy blues-based rock n’ roll, aptly-titled, Slow Burn. Chock full of low-slung blues-rock riffs, slinky funk guitar, heroic lead guitar bursts, and Ali’s sensually expressive vocals, Slow Burn finds the LA-based artist becoming the musician she’s longed to be since she was a Led Zeppelin-obsessed teenager. The milestone album was produced by Ali’s long-time collaborator, four-time Grammy Award-winner Seth Atkins Horan. It also features a special guest appearance by comedian, podcast pioneer, and fellow blues rocker Marc Maron on the single, “The High Road.”
Onstage and on record, Ali oozes an empowered female sexuality that is reflected in her lyrics, and the swagger of her songwriting and guitar playing. She has earned raves from Guitar Player Magazine, American Songwriter Magazine, Guitar World, and Vintage Guitar Magazine. She’s cracked the Billboard album charts, and toured Australia, Japan and beyond. Ali has sung backup for Neil Young, and has been songwriting legend Paul Williams’s featured vocalist. She’s had her songs featured in numerous films and hit TV shows, and on official Spotify blues artist playlists. She has also found time to write the much-needed instructional book, Guitar for Girls (published by Hal Leonard). Ali also plays in RagDolls, an Aerosmith tribute band, playing note-for-note renditions of Joe Perry’s iconic but elusive solos. Along the way in her shero’s journey, Ali even faced down cancer after being diagnosed 10 years ago with an incurable but not terminal variant of the disease.
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. However, when her parents relocated the family to Northern California, Ali discovered Led Zeppelin ~ courtesy of a cute boy in the 8th grade. After he taught her the acoustic introduction to Zep’s “Over The Hills and Far Away,” Ali switched from piano to guitar and never looked back.
Ali’s tastes evolved to the virtuosic metal of the day, and hearing those shred guitarists caused her to doubt her abilities. “I didn’t realize everybody sucks in the beginning, and that you actually suck for a long time before you get better,” she says with a good-natured laugh.
Undaunted, Ali moved to LA to pursue a music career in late 1987. While there, she studied psychology at UCLA, and explored classical singing until she was diagnosed with vocal nodules. But she found she had gotten away from her goal of being a professional lead guitarist. “I was miserable back then. Every guy I dated was a guitar player and I didn’t want to date these people, I wanted to be one of them,” she recalls.
Eventually, Ali earned a real-life education playing in bands in the wilds of Hollywood. Through her experiences playing lead and rhythm guitar, writing songs, and singing backup, she emerged a well-rounded musician. In 2000, Ali released her solo debut album, Dirty Little Secret, and ever since then she has been amassing a loyal fanbase and critical acclaim.
As the title implies, her latest album, Slow Burn, smolders with in-the-pocket bluesy grooves, sultry vocals, and a feast of to-die-for guitar tones. The album’s first single, the dirty delta blues joint “The High Road,” was inspired directly from a comment Marc Maron made on his WTF podcast, and it features Marc and Ali trading searing solos.“The High Road” explores the desire to be a good partner even at the worst of times, when your impulses are leading you to “scorched earth” style reactions. The single, “Brave,” is propelled by a hypnotic tom-tom groove and rubbery bass which is slathered with Ali’s buttery vocals, a walloping harmonica, and her majestically fuzzed-out lead guitar.
Ali also turns in two imaginative and literally slow burn covers on the album. She does a sultry stripped-down version of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” during which she rips through Joe Perry’s slithery solo note for note. Ali also turns in a smoky reading of the Beatles “Come Together.” The album’s title track is just as much themed around Ali hitting her stride as a professional musician in her 50s as it is a love dedication to her husband of 18 years. She says: “I wish there were more older female role models out there. I hope I can light the way for young girls and women, showing them that it’s never too late.”
Ever badass and busy, Ali has several recording projects lined up for after Slow Burn is released. Reflecting on where she’s at today, Ali says: “I have finally become the guitarist I wanted to be, and it only took 25 years,” she laughs. “I guess it comes back to this all being a slow burn.”