Reaching Out to Kids With AIDS : * Singer hopes the annual musical benefit will raise awareness, compassion and understanding for youths with the disease.

The Palomino’s regular crush of blues, country and rock ‘n’ roll will be interrupted with a prayer Sunday night. It’s become a tradition now for singer Sharonmarie Fisher and her annual musical benefits for children with AIDS.

“We just ask everybody to ask for awareness of AIDS in the world,” says Fisher, 43, who has been HIV-positive for nearly eight years. “And to remember that we’re human, not monsters, and we do have to live with this disease; and to reach out and give somebody a hug and tell them you love them.”

Fisher will be among a crowd of friends as she leads that prayer. Those scheduled to perform at the 14-hour Christmas benefit for the nonprofit groups Babies With AIDS and Tuesday’s Child include Delbert McClinton, Dave Alvin, Rosie Flores, former Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger, blues man William Clarke and more than 30 other acts.

This is the benefit’s third year, each time with Fisher in charge. It’s the first time it’s being presented at the Palomino in North Hollywood. Earlier installments were at the smaller Village Bar & Grill in Burbank and at Cousin’s in Simi Valley.

“It’s getting so big I’m afraid it might be at the Universal Amphitheater next year,” Fisher says, laughing.

The singer says she was moved to organize the musical benefits after she began working with children infected with the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome. All proceeds from the show will go to the two groups. She has also begun speaking at high schools to educate young students on how to avoid the disease.

Fisher says she also hopes to spread compassion for those children who have become infected. “It’s hard when you look at these little kids in their faces, and you ask them to explain how they feel,” says Fisher, who expects a few of the children she works with to attend the show. “As an adult I go through hell trying to live with it. And these little kids don’t know what’s going on.

“I’m going to help these kids as much as I can to give them the things that they need. And all my friends have been really gracious. I’m really blessed with their friendship.”

Along with the talent set to perform at the holiday-themed benefit, such recording artists as Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Mel Tillis and others have donated autographed CDs, photographs, T-shirts, at least one stuffed animal and other items for the show’s raffle.

“I just sent them a letter, and I’m just overwhelmed with how generous they’ve been,” Fisher says.

The event begins at noon and continues until 2 a.m., and each act will perform for about 15 minutes. Admission is a requested donation of $20, or $10 and one gift for a child.

For bandleader Ronnie Mack, who heads the Palomino’s weekly Barndance show and will also perform Saturday, the benefit allows him to give thanks for his own health and career. “It’s just a thank you for the kind of life I have,” he says. “It’s a feeling of giving back, especially when it has to do with children.”

Mack says he’s also attracted to the show through Fisher’s enthusiasm for the cause. “She lives every day to the fullest,” he says. “She is a total bundle of energy.

“She has really resigned herself to the fact that for the rest of her life she’s going to live every second of it, and she’s going to do what she wants to do with her music.”

Fisher’s own Women in Country group will be among the acts performing at the benefit. The band is a 13-member all-female group of Los Angeles area country music musicians that first met at a birthday party for Mack.

“We do all our own material,” says Fisher. “I showcase all the girls and everybody’s on stage singing background with everybody else. A lot of mikes up front.

“What we have in common is spirituality and bonding,” Fisher adds. “Being positive.”

It’s that same mood the singer expects to find at the children-with-AIDS benefit. “I can reach them in a bar, where people are out and having a good time and hearing the music,” Fisher says. “If you can’t get the message out there, you’re not going to get it out anywhere.”

Where and When

What: Children With AIDS benefit, with performances by Delbert McClinton, Dave Alvin, Rosie Flores, Robbie Krieger, William Clark, James Intveld, Ronnie Mack, Juke Logan, the Taildraggers with King Ernest, Eddie Tuduri, Rick Vito, Sharonmarie Fisher’s Women in Country and many others.

Location: The Palomino, 6907 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.

Hours: Noon Sunday to 2 a.m. Monday.

Price: Requested donation of $20, or $10 and a child’s gift.

Call: (818) 764-4018.