Rich and Ian of Prohibition have generously set aside some time for us and those who would come out to support us in this important effort. There will be a $10.00 donation at the door and a two drink minimum for the soiree which will include entertainment from Michael Clay, Mark Aaron James, Ilene Kristen and appearances from some well known people from around town, Connie Fletcher, Terri Ivens, Thorsten Kaye and Alec Musser not the least among them.

This effort has been a labour of love for all involved. The staff of Smart & Strong and POZ magazine would like nothing more than to make their mark contributing to New York’s most significant fund raising event which helping to make life productive for the hiv+ and people living with AIDS. This is that annual event where we can make ourselves heard, when we can love out loud.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Michael Clay was one of Nashville’s noted heartthrobs. He is certainly a fine example of an impossibly handsome sensitive man. His music at the time was noteworthy in that it could not be pigeonholed. In the heartland of the Country Music Industry that can be a two edged sword. There was definitely nobody like him. No one else was playing his brand of pure American music with a strong positive streak. His loyal following was exactly that because the music was so uplifting. On the other hand being that unique made it difficult for major labels’ A&R people to take a chance on him. Still he stayed on and played and played.

Italian on his mother’s side and bred in the heart of Texas, Michael is furnished with an emotional base that propels him to perform and reach out through that performance. Nashville was graced with many a show at The Sutler, Caffe Milano, 3rd and Lindsley, 12th & Porter, and Wolfie's not to mention spontaneous performances that sprouted at parties, The Nashville Country Club, The Bound’ry and The Trace.

Those years brought him to Austin’s Saxon Pub more than once and reignited his attachment to his home State where he is now and where he continues to create.

Michael could tell you many a tale of his close friends from his Nashville years and more than one has inspired his original material. They were years full of creativity and connecting personalities. The list seems endless and certainly memorable.

Michael Clay’s signature song at one time was the incomparable Love Out Loud a paean to loving as one’s nature dictates. It arrived at the very end of the set starting out unassumingly with an autobiographical sketch of how the emotional struggles of youth brought the singer to musical expression a metaphor/simile for loving and living. It was that part of the show where everyone in the band had the opportunity for self expression. It was cathartic and exhilarating.

I was born with bugle horns and trumpets in my heart,
Mandolins, & accordions & voices in three parts
Pounding drums and guitar strums
And choirs singing out
I was born to love, love out loud

Michael plays on and Austin, Texas is the better for it.

Website: MichaelClayBand.com

There was too much testosterone in the on screen Lavery clan, so it was as if God infused the family with a soul in the person of Erin Lavery who is brought to life by Connie Fletcher whose acting resume includes a collaborative effort in bringing to life no less than the work of J.D. Salinger.

Lavery's are by nature somewhat earthy and outright assertive in their demands on life. Fletcher seems to be filling the bill.

Connie's Erin is the clover that brings fortune to Jeff Branson, Aiden Turner and good ol' Cameron whatshisname.

Sports enthusiast Terri Ivens came to All My Children as the sad and embroiled Simon Torres but it wasn't long before the ebullience that is Terri came bubbling to the service so that now her presence is more than welcome. It's our guess that there's more than a little of Ms Ivens in Ms Torres' chutzpah.

One of Ms. Ivens' favorite charitable programs is America's Junior Miss, a scholarship foundation. She is a former National Finalist as Nevada's Junior Miss. Terri also lends her support to Media Fellowship International, Emergency Response Support Team, and Youth Outreach.

She has a loyal and enthusiastic following. They are glad she's here and so are we.

Born in California and raised in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Mark Aaron James seemed an unlikely candidate for the Nashville songwriting scene. With a strong pop-rock-alternative background in tow, however, he enrolled in Music City's reputable Vanderbilt University. He inevitably became an integral part of the alternative music scene there. The inventive results lead to co-writing with some of Nashville's top songsmiths and his compositions being performed by everyone from Jimmy Buffet to the World Peace Choir.

The year following his critically acclaimed indie release, Mr. Wirehead, Mark was awarded Best Local Songwriter and Best Up and Coming Band in the The Nashville Scene's 2000 reader's poll. In the weekly mag, owned by NYC's Village Voice, Mark beat out John Hyatt, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle and several other Nashville luminaries for the award. With the release of his second indi-label CD, Adventures With A Plastic Bag, he repeated the feat in 2001. The title song from that CD went on to make the top 100 songs of the year on Nashville's WRLT Lightening 100, gained airplay on Atlanta's 99X and was added to 126 other CMJ reporting stations, charting in 12 markets.

Despite his success in Nashville, Mark was regularly being reminded that he was a rock singer in a town known for country music. After playing some well received shows in New York's Living Room and being featured on PBS's CD Highway and I-Dig's Rawdio programs, Mark decided it was time to make New York City his home base.

Mark Aaron James does everything a musician is supposed to do here, still he is an original. Mark has played in venues as varied as Mr. Denehey’s (where he is booked on weekly basis performing his undercover shows showcasing his versatility), The Bitter End, The Parkside Lounge and the Westbeth Theater. New York's Underground Music Organization (UMO) just voted him one of the "Top 14 Singer/songwriters in Greenwich Village," and featured him as the opening track on their annual top 14 CD. In addition he is no stranger to Prohibition. His appearance there will not only reunite him with the venue but his old friend Michael Clay.

Website: Mark Aaron James

An athlete and an actor with the heart of a poet: a description that fits international star Thorsten Kaye to a tee. He has presence and, therefore, his characters fill the small screen whenever he appears. Okay, maybe the word ‘grace’ shouldn’t be added, but his work with Alicia Minshew is noteworthy and has caught the notice of many a fan. Don’t hate him because he’s beautiful. Love him because he has subtlety in his delivery and can say more with a glance than copious words could descry.

Website: ThorstenKaye.com

Ilene Kristen a New Yorker through and through has lived in just about everywhere here. She found herself living on the Upper West Side for some of her formative years. As many an urban child, especially of that era, she and her sister were given directives regarding which streets could be traveled.

One street that had 100% permission for her young adventures was Broadway, which served as inspiration for the luminous and joyous noise she gave forth in a duet of Boogaloo Down Broadway after her show one evening at the Triad where she often performs.

Ilene’s shows are full of reminiscences in which she relates to her audience as if they were in her living room. She herself says so. Nonetheless her music is sultry, smooth and funky at one and the same time. Still this smoothness wraps itself around complex and sensitive lyrics in her original material. As fortune would have it, one of her songs “Flesh & Blood” is found on the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Recording One Life Many Voices that she and her co-stars from One Life to Live have put together.

“Hold on to the earth with your own two hands and never say goodbye” are the lyrics she wrote in response to The World Trade Center tragedy and the loss of her good friend Nancy Addison from Ryan’s Hope. Speaking of inspiration, Ilene Kristen’s fans would do her and themselves a great service in encouraging her to record more of her moving and intelligent sounds in a project all her own. It’s no wonder that this vibrant, diminutive powerhouse was the very first to commit to our fundraiser. To know her is to love her.

Website: The Official Ilene Kristen Website

If anyone were capable of getting people to stand up and look it would be the likes of Alec Musser. The judges of last year's I Wanna Be A Soap Star 2 paid close attention and much to many a viewer's delight cast him as the conniving Del Henry. It was, therefore, with even greater delight to hear that Del's portrayer would be in attendance at what promises to be a unique experience.

As Tad the Cad's brother-in-law and Dixie's erstwhile half-brother Del had a ready made place in Pine Valley, Pa. Musser hasn't missed a beat. He's got a look that comes from vast experience as a physical fitness model as well as the wherewithal to bring multifaceted Del to life as a lovable cad. Who could ask for anything more?

He now has an official website and an official fan club.

Website: Alec Musser.com, The Official Site
Fan Club: Alec Musser Fan Club