Vermont is in the middle of an artistic renaissance. With Burlington’s major hip hop group 99 Neighbors parting ways, it seems many artists are looking forward to their 2024 campaigns.

Rivan Calderin, known simply as Rivan, tore through the back end of 2023 releasing four songs and amassing over 11,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone.

“Learn to be good at a number of things,” Rivan said during a phone interview earlier this month when asked how to get noticed.

Becoming knowledgeable in many fields has contributed greatly to the success of the Vermont native.

When asked about how he’s differentiated himself from other artists, he stated, “I stand out.”

From throwing his own DIY shows in Burlington, to booking artists all across the Northeast, Calderin definitely knows how to diversify his skills in the industry. 

Not to mention he is an extremely underrated graphic artist as well.

One piece of advice the creative mentioned for anyone aspiring to make art was, “Put your ego aside and promote.”

Recently, Rivan has had a major uptick in content creation and promotion for his work. This has certainly brought more attraction to his social media platforms, where his handle is @rivanrules.

The young vocalist isn’t only creating content for himself though. He, along with six other astounding musicians, form the band Juicebox. Although the band started in 2018, Calderin didn’t officially become a member until much more recently.

And while Burlington-based Calderin has performed at a number of venues from all across the state, he seeks to continue to broaden his reach and VTSU Castleton students know who he is. 

“I saw him perform in Burlington,” said Sean Dinan, a current first-year student at VTSU Castleton. “‘Like Woah’ was a really great song to see performed live.”

It seems there’s a theme among Castleton students.

“‘Like Woah’ reminded me of ‘Brockhampton,’” said Gretel Seaman, a VTSU sophomore. 

A veteran to the stage, Calderin also performs in New York City, including a recent March 27 show at the Heaven Can Wait music venue in Manhattan.

If you don’t want to travel to see him, though, you may be in luck.

“I’d love to come perform in Castleton,” he said as the interview was beginning to wrap up. “The campus is so remote and community based.”