Getting In Tune: New online local entertainment website seeks more feature acts
Usually taking a backseat to other local promotions and happenings throughout the area, the Southwest Florida music and entertainment scene is now hopping in front of the steering wheel. All-new website MyiTownTV.com has begun taping weekly webisodes featuring local entertainment acts and musical talents from around the area, hosted by the one, the only, Symon, who’s also a co-producer of the show along with executive producer Robb Stan.
“It’s best described as a combo of MySpace and YouTube, only with better quality,” Symon said. “I’ve watched YouTube compared to MyiTownTV.com and it’s a world of difference. It’s amazing.”
Symon explained why the online interactive community site was started.
“There’s really no visitor’s channel or website that highlights only entertainment. It’s always fine dining, golf things like that, and entertainment always took a backseat aside from some newspapers, like the Beach Bulletin and its Beach Beat section,” he explained. “We wanted to provide these dynamite bands that people never really heard about we wanted to give them a shout-out, finally giving a front seat to the local entertainment industry.”
All about the show
On a weekly basis, Symon interviews an array of musical acts and entertaining talents from around the area, compacting the show into a 20-minute episode.
“We want all of Southwest Florida to be included in this show,” Symon said. “It’s a shout-out for any local acts between anywhere from Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte down to Marco Island.”
So far, Tequila Tom, Soli and Andre and magician Keith Raygor have been featured on the show, but Symon says they’re always looking for more talent to promote.
“We’re always looking for more musicians to join the show,” he said. “There are so many good musicians out there that so many people don’t even know about. This is such a great way of promoting them and being seen.”
The show is well-produced, full of live clips of the featured entertainment acts and is available in HD (high definition).
It streams live every Thursday at 7 p.m., with past shows available for viewing on demand anytime after that.
“Episodes are backed up for one full year, so you can view them over and over again,” Symon said. “That’s the beauty of the Internet television thing.”
Symon, who performs regularly four to six times a week, including the Outrigger Wednesdays, the Monkey Bar (Cape Coral) Sundays and Thursdays, and Big Al’s (Bonita) Fridays, is happy to get this show off the ground.
Taped in the MyiTownTV studio in Naples, the show is a Q&A-type interview with the featured act of the week.
“And at the end of every show, we give a shout-out to approximately eight to 10 other regional acts, so people know where to see them, too,” Symon said.
A true virtual community
Aside from just using the website as a virtual entertainment source, local artists can actually go to the main site and become a member for free, allowing them to post all of their upcoming events on the web calendar and create a profile with sample tracks, pictures, videos and more.
“That was the whole idea behind this. It’s the ultimate local entertainment networking site,” Symon said.
There’s no charge to view, no charge to be on the show, no monthly fee.
“Absolutely no charge for any of it,” Symon said.
Getting on the show
If you’re a contributing act to the local entertainment scene, including music, comedy, magic, etc., get in touch with MyiTownTV.com.
“We ask [the acts] to provide some video clips of them performing, which we use during the show. If they don’t have any, lots of times we can go out and shoot them for the show,” Symon said.
Considered acts must be performing in/or be from Southwest Florida. They must provide itinerary, photos, and at some time video/audio clips.
To be a feature on the show, email mail@symonmusic.com or symon@myitowntv.com.
For weekly “shout-outs” for performances, email mail@symonmusic.com.