Sawyer Utah is a 24-year-old artist whose music, a dreamy indie-pop incorporating western and hip-hop elements, is climbing in streams as he establishes his place in the industry.
Utah showed remarkable talent from a young age, starting to learn guitar at six and beginning to write songs at seven. Among guitar and vocals, he also learned to play piano as well as a variety of string, percussion, and wind instruments in his childhood. The amount of instruments he learned to play, many during his time at a Waldorf school, total to over ten.
During his junior year of high school, Utah released his single “A Little Push,” marking a special stage in his early career. Five years later, upon re-entering the music industry, Utah decided to remove the song and start with a clean slate, releasing his debut single “Nights Like This” as a reborn artist, which has garnered over half a million streams.
“I learned that at the end of the day, artistry is what you make of it,” Utah said. “I made that song, loved it, released it, felt like it had its time, and took it down.”
Along with restarting his music career, Utah began posting on social media, growing an official platform of fans and promoting his music.
With social media becoming such an immense part of growing a platform in the music industry, artists must discover new ways to grow given the current aspects of the industry while creating a healthy space for themselves, both marketing their music and personalities to audiences.
As his skills grow, Utah must navigate the industry. He is still developing as a young artist and improving while consistently writing, teasing and coming out with new releases.
“I truly love what I do,” Utah said. “I have a vault of songs that I am continuously listening through and pulling from, so it’s [a] balance of creating and listening all the time, to keep the flow always moving.”
Along with furthering himself as an artist, Utah caters to a variety of different audiences on different social media platforms due to the age of users and general expectations when it comes to each app.
“I definitely put a lot of thought into wording things in different posts when I’m on Facebook, especially v[ersus] TikTok,” Utah said. “I spam TikTok a lot more than others, and I use Instagram a little more formally but still fun.”
On Utah’s social media pages, he includes many professionally shot videos, furthering his popularity. He sees it as a way to portray his talent as an artist through his music and as a way to protect his image in the long run, something which will follow him as he grows.
Furthering his re-entrance into releasing music in 2023, Utah is navigating the world of balancing his career and personal life. With social media blurring the lines for many artists, Utah is attempting to find footing in the ever-evolving marketing world.
“I am getting better at taking time for myself when I need to. I think I’m probably trying to speak that into existence right now,” Utah said. “I did just pick back up flying RC planes, so I’m tryin’.”
On May 2, Utah released his first single since “WHEREVER U ARE ✭,” his debut EP. Utah was sent an email of a beat, and despite typically coming up with his own music, he decided to use the track and expand on the song through his own vocals and lyrics, creating his new single “tears and wishes.”
“It definitely shows a new side of me vocally, sonically, and visually,” Utah said. “I tried some new things when it comes to how I recorded and painted the song.”
Utah’s music and content can be found on every streaming and social media platform. His next performance is at 4 p.m. on May 31 at Centennial Park in Nashville, Tennessee.