Rivot Magazine is reviving print media as Bucks County’s premier music and news magazine covering local shows, artists, news and more!
The monthly magazine’s counter culture, punk brand challenges today’s cultural and industry shift toward digital media and focuses on giving a voice to artists and showcasing Bucks County’s creative community.
In February, James Lamb self-released 100 free copies of Rivot’s first issue with a mission to “hype the venues, hype the musicians, and hype the local scene.” Since February, Lamb has released five issues spreading the word about the music scene, local artists, and issues affecting the area.
Lamb, owner of Evolution Candy in Doylestown with his wife Tracy, started promoting local shows and bands through the candy shop but felt there was a “missing gap.” Lamb came up with creating handwritten 90s-style zines after a night of insomnia to fill that gap.
Lamb’s zine idea evolved into a print magazine, but Rivot’s design and message held onto zines’ principle punk aesthetic and representation of underground movements and artists.
“People like talking about their music, people like talking about their venue, people like talking about how they created something, how they wrote a song and I want to give them an outlet to say those things,” Lamb said.
While popular artists from Bucks County like Sabrina Carpenter and Pink receive national and local media attention, new and established artists from the area are underrepresented in local media. Lamb says he wanted to give emerging musicians a voice and avenue to use it.
While many publications have moved away from print, Lamb took on a grassroots effort pitching his idea to advertisers for a print publication. He says physical media was a void that needed to be filled.
“I just really like a physical, handheld thing that can be saved, that can migrate when I drop one at the bus stop,” Lamb said.
Six months in, Lamb’s publication is gaining traction with readers subscribing from the website and physical copies selling in stores. Last month, Lamb says they printed 300 copies distributed through Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope, Siren Records, Repo Records in Philadelphia, Nomad Supply Co, Wooden Shoe Books, and more.
As the publication has grown, Lamb has enlisted a small team. Annie Holohan, a friend of Lamb’s, designed the magazine’s logo capturing its punk DIY ethos with jagged handwriting. In addition to Holohan, Lamb added a few interns, including Parker Hayden, to collaborate with Lamb, sharing music related events, story ideas, and broadening Rivot’s perspectives and content.
Hayden, a graduate of CB West and St. Joe’s University, had connections in Philadelphia when Lamb covered the fired workers’ side of the World Cafe Live walkout on June 11. The collaboration produced a nine page story detailing the mismanagement under Joe Callahan leading up to the walkout and the firing that followed on June 12.
Lamb said he’s staying in touch with the two fired World Cafe employees he interviewed to keep interested readers updated as the story progresses. Lamb’s update in July’s issue was a play-by-play of World Cafe Live’s town hall.
Lamb branched out again covering topics beyond music, like calling out the Sheriff’s 287(g) agreement with ICE, covering “Hand Off” rallies, as well as Trans Visibility Day.
He says he’s learning to manage the many channels like social media and YouTube and handling mistakes as a young publication.
“It’s like the candy store. It’s evolving, it morphs,” said Lamb. “It just kind of goes where it needs to go.”
Even Lamb’s process evolves for each issue. Last month, Lamb had to adapt and cut stories to accommodate the World Cafe Live story. He also favors creativity and evolving through a free form layout in his editing process.
Hayden helped streamline to ease the process, but Lamb says he likes the different feels for what visually works and finding out “what the vibe is for each month.”
Lamb continues to support bands helping them book shows at venues, sharing performances to social media, and documenting shows at local venues. In the future, Lamb says he has music related projects beyond the magazine under the Rivot Media umbrella.
Readers can subscribe to Rivot Magazine here, or pick up a physical copy at these locations.
