The Island Today: Stars on the rise take stage

Grace McQuade

On Wednesday, Jan. 11, some of the best local music talent will converge on the Revolution Bar & Music Hall once again, as My Long Island TV’s Rick’s Rising Stars, which airs on Verizon FiOS1 — presented by All Music Inc. — returns for its first installment of 2017.

For this upcoming show, The Johnny Mac Band, Jesse Eplan, Soul Junkies and Coastlwolf will hit the stage as they’re filmed for performance and interview segments showcasing their talent at one of Long Island’s top music venues located at 140 Merrick Road in Amityville.

After seeing news on Long Island turn more and more negative, Waldo Cabrera, creator and executive producer of “Rick’s Rising Stars,” used his experience in television and as a community activist to launch a web-based TV station, MyLITV.com, a collection of positive Long Island features about the people and events that make Long Island communities great.

On television since 2009, the “My Long Island TV” show has been honored with dozens of local and national journalism awards.

Recently, the show was nominated for a New York Emmy award, and within its first year in existence, MyLITV.com won the Best On Long Island award for Best Internet News and Best Internet Politics.

At the Fair Media Council’s FOLIO Awards, MyLITV.com (Islip.TV) was the only web site to receive this journalism award.

“Rick’s Rising Stars” is presented by music industry veteran and insider Rick Eberle, the host and co-producer of the show who has had a long and illustrious career in the entertainment industry as a publicist, talent agent, artist manager, musician, songwriter, singer, guitarist and TV and radio personality.

With a diverse range of musical genres from blues and soul to pop, singer-songwriter, and reggae, The Johnny Mac Band, Jesse Eplan, Soul Junkies and Coastlwolf will bring talent and passion to the stage at Revolution.

As they perform and sit down for an interview segment, viewers can get the real stories behind the bands and artists, their music, how they came to be and what drives them to pursue their passion.

As “Rick’s Rising Stars” returns to Revolution for its first taping of the new year, this is a chance to catch these local acts and be in the audience for a TV taping of their performance on Wednesday, Jan. 11.

The show is for attendees age 16 and older. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 on the day of the show. Doors open at 7 p.m.

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