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(I'm From Driftwood storyteller Khary. Photo courtesy Nathan Manske)
 
On January 31, I’m From Driftwood, the nonprofit that aims to tell gays’ stories of struggle, discrimination and self-acceptance—especially for those from the less-than-homo-friendly parts of the country—will host a “Community Spotlight” on typically underrepresented segments of the queer community. The stories will go live online February 6 when they launch the web component of the Spotlight on African American gays by sharing the stories they read at the event with online readers. We asked Nathan Manske, imfromdriftwood.com founder, why focusing on African American gays’ stories is so important, and got two of the evenings storytellers to tell us what being black and gay means to them. —Alex Erikson
 
"There’s a discomfort with not only being black, but then you lay on the kind of weirdness of being gay and it creates a bubble that’s difficult to live inside of." >>> continue reading »

(Whitney Day photographed by Kevin Thomas Garcia)

While most of the world is looking back on 2011, we at Next Magazine are already looking forward. And as you might have learned from our Who's Next 2012 issue, DJ Whitney Day is poised to be the next big thing on the decks.

Check out Day's exclusive mix for Next readers.>>> continue reading »

(Eric Einstein at a State Liquor Authority subcommittee this summer. Via DNAInfo.com)
 
In an exclusive interview with Next Magazine, owner and manager Eric Einstein tells us that the bar has a new lease on life. Literally.
 
“It’ll have a different name.  I just don’t know what yet. But I want it to be neighbor-hoody and have that same friendly feel as Pieces does.”>>> continue reading »

(Photos: Robert Dash)

As the Fire Island Pines sifts through the ashes, we sift through the facts surrounding last week’s devastating fire.

It is, without a doubt, the biggest story to come out of Fire Island in years: Monday night’s devastating fire that destroyed businesses along the Fire Island Pines harbor. These businesses included the offices of Bob Howard Real Estate, Pines Harbor Realty, CF LaFountaine and the Jalston clothing boutique along with one home and the gutting of some of the island’s most popular night spots, namely Sip N’ Twirl and The Pavilion. Pictures of the damage have been popping up on Facebook and on blogs all week and show a barely recognizable charred ruin where the buildings once stood.

"The Pines was an incredibly important community in the Town of Brookhaven and that he would do everything to ensure that the Town doesn't delay rebuilding.">>>

  continue reading »

(Justin Utley; photo by Kevin Tachman)

We’ve been hot on singer-songwriter Justin Utley for a few years now after first catching our attention is the musical Our Country. A year later we named him Who’s Next 2010.

Now the Utah native is back from a summer of touring with his first new album in six years, Nothing This Real, and he is giving Next Magazine readers the first listen to the album’s first single "The Great Escape."

Grab a peek at the exclusive track after the jump>>> continue reading »

(Taylor Dayne @ Crimson; photo by Wilsonmodels)

Dance-pop singer Taylor Dayne, best known for her 1987 hit “Tell It to My Heart,” made a special appearance at Brandon Voss and Tony Fornabaio’s weekly party Rockit at Crimson last Friday to promote her greatest hits album, Floor on Fire. Despite hurricane Irene brewing outside, the 49-year-old Dayne kept things a storm of nostalgia inside with a performance of the late ’80s hit—and sounding great to boot! Our staff photographer Wilsonmodels was there to catch all the fun.

SEE THE VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP>>> continue reading »

Food and nightlife blog Eater.com reported last week that long time East Village favorite, The Phoenix, had been sold by John Williams to new owners who were not planning on keeping the bar gay. We tracked down new owner Brenda Breathnach to get the story behind the rumours.
 
"We plan to keep the bar the way it is…">>>
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(Next Magazine Pride Kick-Off Party @ W New York)
 
We'd say we're still recovering from the Next Magazine Pride Kick-Off Party last Friday at the W New York but we haven't stopped partying since then—so recovery is at least a week away!
 
If you didn't make it to the event, or did but can't recall it, come check out photographic evidence on our Facebook page. (Make sure you LIKE us first, so you can access the images.)
 
Did you or your friends take pics at the party? Post a link in the comments below.
And be sure to pick up this Friday's issue to see even more photos from the party!

(Happily Divorced on TVLand)

TV Land held a star-studded bash at the Gansevoort Hotel this week to launch their new summer season, which features the return of their smash-hit sitcom, Hot in Cleveland, and the premiere of  the Fran Drescher vehicle, Happily Divorced. Ostensibly a sitcom about a middle-aged florist (Drescher) and her gay ex-husband (A Mighty Wind's John Michael Higgins), the show is actually inspired by Drescher’s real-life relationship with her husband of 21 years, Peter Marc Jacobson, who came out as a gay man after they separated.

On the red carpet Jacobson, looking oh-so-handsome in a gray Tom Ford suit, explained how difficult coming out was for him. “I had gone to a bunch of therapists, and they told me I was straight,” he says Jacobson, a co-producer on both The Nanny and Happily Divorced. “I didn’t want to lose [Fran] and I didn’t want to lose my life with her, but we were having problems—other problems—and eventually she said, 'I want to separate.' I didn’t want it. About a year after we separated I was dating other women, and I wasn’t feeling it.” That’s when he says he confronted the feelings he was having and knew he had to share them Drescher. Today, as the show suggests, the pair are happily divorced. In fact, they even fix each other up on dates.

FULL STORY AND VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP!>> continue reading »

(Prague Smash)
 
EATS: Becherovka is an elusive spirit, hardly to be considered “usual.” Think of aromatic bitters, but in a bigger bottle, and something far more advancing for cocktails. The pairing up of Czechoslovakian apothecary Josef Becher and British physician Christian Frobrig proved to be quite fortuitous, the duo having first wrought the stuff all the way back in 1807. Their resulting alchemical secret lasting through the years is a most beguiling blend, evoking a touch of honey, a whisper of clove, a slip of cinnamon and a gently bitter conclusion. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY>>>