Stories, Photos & Inspiration
Personal Stories & Photos
Childhood Photos
My mom recently sent me a bunch of photos from my childhood, so I thought I’d share a few with you! 🥰 Featured, of course, is my first cat, Carole (named after Carole King), as well as a shot of me practicing my singing in front of my childhood piano (replete with Olivia Newton John wig!) 😄
Most Embarrassing High School Band Photos EVER
This is “the band I was in” in high school. That’s in quotes because these photos were the extent of my involvement with the band.
I never actually played a gig with them (I don’t even remember if THEY ever played a gig!) 😜
All I know is that these photos were taken in a suburban frozen yogurt shop after hours, and I’m grateful *I* didn’t have to be the mother of that teenage girl…
yikes!!
🤘🤘🤘Rock n roll! 😂😂😂
Ali's Birthday In Malibu
Here are some shots from my 50th birthday celebration in Malibu. Many of these have not been shared with the public (other than ⭐️Backstage with Ali⭐️ members). Enjoy! 🎉
Creative Inspiration
Inspiring Reads ~ The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
One of the most important books to shape me as an artist is The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Whenever ANYONE creative asks me for advice, I ALWAYS recommend they do this book (it’s a book with weekly assignments — it doesn’t do much good to just read it — kinda like life, you need to do the work to get the results).
In this video, I read a few passages from the book and chat about how some of the lessons helped me as a developing artist.
Inspiring Reads ~ The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
To help ring in the New Year on a positive note, I picked out my very favorite passages from one of my all-time favorite books: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
Quick note: Because the video I recorded is over 15 minutes, I had to split it into two separate videos — Part 1 & Part 2. Make sure you watch the 2nd video right below ⬇️, as that’s the most inspiring part!!
Getting Through Tough Times
Ali-Cat Bryan G. requested I talk about how I got through tough times early in my career, when nobody believed in me. Here’s my thoughts on that, including some things that you may not expect… (live from a park in Sherman Oaks CA) 😊
Attending Inspiring Shows (Nov 2022)
I went to see Lizzo with my friend and co-writer Patricia Bahia, and this was my very favorite part of the show. Lizzo was SO inspiring ~ both with her musical abilities and her empowering messages to the audience. I’m so happy I caught this touching moment on “tape” 😉
Three out of five RagDolls got to see Aerosmith in concert (Susie Major (our Steven Tyler), me & Tara Rae (our Tom Hamilton on bass) ~ it was fascinating watching a concert where I knew how to play 90% of the songs note-for-note. Very trippy, and wonderful! Joe Perry played a different guitar for EVERY.SINGLE.SONG!
2020 Recap
Let’s raise a toast to 2021!!! And give 2020 a swift kick in the you-know-where… 😜
2020 was one of the most difficult years I think most of us have had to face. It’s crazy to look at these videos now.
For this behind-the-scenes video this month, my assistant Alex suggested we do a 2020 recap / Meet Ali’s team video.
I loved the idea ~ I hope you enjoy meeting Alex & Addison, as well as hearing about how we felt about 2020 ~ the bad and the silver linings ~ and what we’re hoping for 2021. 🌈
Plans & Goals for 2022
For our behind-the-scenes video this month, I’m sharing my goals and plans for 2022. I have a LOT of exciting musical experiences in the works, and I’m looking forward to sharing them with you! 💖
This is the second year I've taken the time to talk about how my year was and what I’m aiming to do in the future.