I Love Christmas posted!!
So, I've got "I Love Christmas" up and running for ya here on my site!! oh mannnn, all you gotta do is head to the music section of my website here, listen, and let me know what you think! I really hope you like it cause i LOVE it... I'm so excited 
Happy Christmas
Cancun, Mehicoooo
WOW. So, I just got back from Mexico! The Canadian Tourism Commission hired me to come play a lunch gig for about an hour in Cancun... and they flew me out there for three nights! Sheeeesh, it was amazing to spend some time in the sun (although i made sure i was well sun screened), and to be able to swim in an ocean that was... dare i say it... warm. Totally amazing. Even at the little beach where our hotel was, I was able to spot colourful fishies... it was like being a fish tank for reeeallls!
I went with my mum, and my Aunt Joan came along too... Just the best weekend ever. And I'm totally legal in Mexico so I might have had a couple margaritas.. maybe a pina colada or two... don't tell anyone though. I even came home with a poncho, which i actually wear. No lies, I've worn it pretty much everyday since I got back... it's mighty comfortable.
Anyways, an amazing trip... Got to play a few tunes, got to take in a little trip. Two thumbs up.
I Love Christmas
So, my friend Don McLeod and I are writing together and a couple weeks ago we ended up writing a christmas song! Weird, I know, but dude, it became the funnest christmas song ever! We loved it so so much that we decided to record it!
We scrambled to get things together and ended up in the studio last week, and recorded "I Love Christmas". It was the funnest day ever!! We had a pile of musicians come in, stand up bass, sax (alto and tenor), trumpet, guitar, i played piano... And it just ended up better than we could have imagined. There are even sleigh bells involved... but don't worry, they're very tasteful.
Anyways, we ended up with this song that you can't help but smile and dance to when it's playing. Well, I think so at least... I really hope you all feel the same way! It's going to be up on the site really soon, and... drum roll pleeeease.... it's going to be on the radio as well! Pretty exciting. Also, I'll be singing it on the Mountain FM Christmas Breakfast on December 2nd... around 8 30 in the morning.
Since it will be on the radio, I was hoping that maybe all you out there could spread the Ali gospel and request "I Love Christmas" on your favourite radio station! You won't regret it I promise
Let me know what you think when you first hear it!!
FACTOR Grant! Emerging Artist…
Big news all!
I received a FACTOR grant!!! I don't know about you, but I like to think this is pretty great news... them factor grants can be darn tough to wrangle. I won the Emerging Artist FACTOR grant, and it's going to help me fund my UPCOMING ALBUM which is going to be ready early 2009!!!!
Keep your ears to the ground and your eyes to this blog to be hearing some new tunes mighty soon!
Photoshootin with Miss Paige Harley
So, my friend, Paige Harley, is studying photography! And this last weekend, she asked me to be her model! Terribly exciting, isn't it? Well holy shiz, the pictures look so good! It was the funnest day. The project was beauty shots, close-up ones pretty much... But we ended the day just goofing around with some sweet props (apples, flowers, pearls, gold necklaces, war paint?). Paige Harley is a magic girl!
Rockanogan!!!
Hoooo weeeeee! On the 26th and the 27th I journeyed to the Okanogan for the 2nd Annual Molsen Rockanogan Music Festival! Sooooo fun. I played an hour-long set at the Sturgeon Hall Restaurant, and it was honestly one of the funnest gigs to play. It was a small room and a small crowd, but the best crowd I could have asked for. Everyone was so goshdrrn great! They listened, they clapped, they whistled. Haha I loved it That can be hard to ask for in a sports bar type situation, especially on a Friday.
The Okanogan is soo beautiful, and we got the chance to have a little look around on Saturday. We visited Mission Hill winery; it's like stepping into Italy... So incredible! Okanogan's also full of the nicest people. When we went there, we billeted with a family called the Kalesnikoffs. They were so incredibly gracious to have us. Their daughter Brittany Kalesnikoff played the Rockanogan too! We got to go see her, and she was great!
It was a really fun weekend on the whole... Couldn't have asked for anything more
Temecula Valley International Film and Music Festival!
So, I just got back from California! I was visiting for a couple days because I got to play a set at the Temecula Valley Film Festival!! It was really fun! Of course, there was lots of sun (ended up with a sunburn, somewhat inevitable in my case). It was nice to escape the autumn rain here in BC.
I played Temecula on Friday night, a 40 minute set, and the crowd was soooo great. Nice and small, and really appreciative; that's totally what counts. Played mostly original tunes, and ended up selling plenty of CDs too! Haha even ended up signing a few autographs! Pretty exciting
The next day we made our way back to Los Angeles and I got to spend the day with my friend Shaun Wolfe from Berklee in Boston. He lives and has grown up in LA, so he showed me around town. Spent most of our time in Hollywood! So fun... Made some new friends (Captain Jack Sparrow, Optimus Prime, you know... the usual). Also spent lots of time in a record store called Amoeba Music! HUUUUUGE place... ended up getting so many albums (Sam Cooke, Lykke Li, Cab Calloway... so stoked).
So Sunday rolled around and, since our plane wasn't until 7 that night, Dad decided to take me on a sight-seeing tour; aka, driving around. We made our way to Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive baby!), Bel Air, and Manhattan Beach!!! Manhattan Beach was UNBELIEVABLE, I want to live there one day... It was so incredible. Let's just say I'm totally jazzed on Manhattan Beach.
Well, we returned the rental car and made our way to the airport to catch our flight. Ohhhhhhhh, but that would just be too simple wouldn't it? Haha, oh man, turns out our flight was for 7 AM Sunday morning, not 7 PM. COOL. Well, that kinda sucked, but we luckily got a cheap hotel room and spent another night in sunny LA. Had to get up at 4am for a 7am Monday morning flight, but we made it home eventually. Luckily. Anways, I'm headed to the Okanogan for the Rockanogan Music Fest this weekend, so I'll be posting another blog soooooon!
Until then
Canadian Music Cafe and the Toronto International Film Festival
My, my, my! Been a busy couple a weeks for me, folks! Where shall I start?
Well, just got back from Ontario where I attended the Toronto International Film Festival! TIFF, if you will. Had so much fun let me tell ya. I first got to attend Norman Jewison's Annual Barbecue, held at the Canadian Film Center. What an incredible property, holy shiz! Unfortunately, it was pooourring rain during the barbecue... that didn't stop anybody though. Place was packed and there were just loads of umbrellas bobbing around. My sweet new moccasin boots got real muddy, but I suppose that's the price you pay!! I did an interview for the Canadian Film Center, wishing them a happy 20th birthday! Word on the street is that the interviews they took that day will be made into a video and shown in movie theaters... something like 7 millions people will see it! Pretty sweet, huh?
I next got to play at the Drake Hotel on Queen Street West. Closed reception for the Whistler Film Festival and The First Weekend Club... really fun party! The lounge was so packed it seemed folks had trouble moving around! I was behind my piano, luckily. Playing some tunes, as always!
The big thing of my Toronto trip though, was the fact that I was a part of the Canadian Music Cafe. What an opportunity! The Canadian Music Cafe showcases Canada's vibrant music scene to film and television industry leaders from around the world. The room was packed, and luckily I got to go first. Everyone was listening, one woman afterwards even said to me that "you could have heard a church mouse!". That made me smile I got a fistful of business cards from some great people. Who knows? Maybe something amazing will come of this trip!
The Sunshine Coast Folkfest
I suppose it's time to tell you all about the Sunshine Folkfest! Time for an update!
On the Labour Day long weekend, me and my new friend Kaitie Sly travelled out to Powell River. Kaitie was playing bass for me on this gig and we had so much fun! It was a really magical festival... as if fairies and gnomes put it together! Really it was just hippies though... and they were great. Gosh, even the food at the catering tent was incredible! As if someone had lovingly put together a meal for us So nice!
The crowd really seemed to enjoy what we were doing and listened to our entire 50 minute set. Seriously, that can be tough to ask for at an outdoor festival. Well it was an amazing location with the ocean at our backs and the forest all around. And the tunes coming from the other artists we got to hear were great too! Everyone was obviously having a lot of fun
Digging Denver, Colorado
What a great place Denver is! My first trip. No cars on the main street. Great shopping all tied together by a free bus that comes along every couple of minutes and takes me from store to store ( I LOVE shopping!). Gig was terrific, in a very cool restaurant. Amazingly nice people. One lady has already hired me to go to Mexico in November which is a great time to be there.
... Ali
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Ali just released her new album “I Dare You”.
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Here is what Bob Segarini from FYI Music says about her...
“She didn't need an audience, she was there for the music. This young woman means every note she plays, every word she sings. This young woman is real. This young woman is special.”
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I Dare You showcases a singer/songwriter with voice, composure and songwriting skills way beyond her years and phrasing which, as amazing as it is, is bound to only get better with time. Pile on immaculate production by one Don McLeod, who puts his finger on the pulse of Milner's musical heartbeat, and you have a winner. An award winner, to my ears. I'm serious.
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