From Wisconsin to Music City: The Story of Sawyer Utah

Written by Alex Tran | Photos by Orchee Sorker | August 9th, 2026

Situated right on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, La Crosse seems like your average small Midwestern city. From the cascading green forests that paint the rocky, rugged mountains to the fluffy snow layers in the winter, it is no wonder that 25-year-old Sawyer Utah can only reminisce about his hometown. 

While Utah may be considered young for the industry, he has already built a name for himself. Utah has been credited alongside fellow artist Zach Hood with writing and producing hits like “Middle of Nowhere” and “Beautiful As You,” garnering over 10 million combined streams. Now, Utah has produced and published two EPs, “WHEREVER U ARE ★” and “WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN ★,” gaining over three million streams collectively.

With Utah’s new single “THRILL” released Aug. 7th, he sat down for two interviews with HAZZE Media, sharing highlights from his journey as a young artist and the numerous challenges along the way.          

Who is Sawyer Utah?

Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Utah was not born with music producer parents or someone with a foot in the industry. Utah credits growing up attending a Waldorf school for his music passion. 

“I think they so support the arts and just the creative side of things.” Utah says “not having as much homework and kind of having more outside time” encouraged him to pick up other hobbies, like playing the guitar.

“We couldn't have screens there so it was just more of all arts and creativity and just letting our minds kind of figure things out. I think that had a big impact on why I just always came back to the guitar when I went home and that was, you know, writing songs or going to play open mics.”

Utah’s time at Waldorf spearheaded his passion for music and the arts. After Utah’s mother bought him his first baby Taylor guitar, six-year-old Utah began practicing the guitar with an instructor and found comfort in the vibrating strings.

Outside of Waldorf, Utah also recalled watching many episodes of American Idol, with former contestants like Chris Daughtry being one of the memorable clips he watched. Utah admits that, after some time watching the show, he applied online to be a contestant. However, with show choir and other responsibilities leaving Utah little time to prepare, he believes the lack of preparation was why he did not make it onto the show. 

While Utah has been open about going to a Waldorf school, he shared how even beyond his time at Waldorf he was getting support from his teachers and community around him. Utah recalls how a choir teacher in high school supported his song writing early on.

“I just remember vividly in my senior year, I was writing songs and I was producing and stuff and I asked her, ‘is it cool, like once or twice a week, if instead of choir class, I go into this practice room’ and there was a little studio setup, and I was like, ‘is okay if I just write songs?’ And she was like, ‘yeah, it's all good.’ And so like, it was little things like that, that people just understood how inspired I was by music and stuff. And I'm so grateful for those people along the way, because, I mean, she didn't have to do that at all.”

Despite many people within Utah’s community supporting his talents, the boundaries of his home town would soon expand. 

Travels with Utah

Utah’s professional growth as an artist did not begin until his travels post-high school and well after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Places like Los Angeles and New York City were places Utah spoke about fondly. Utah was “soaking in so much more different life and just being surrounded by so many different people,” which impacted his creative writing and creative outlets. 

However, Utah would often travel solo at such a young age, with minimal friends or family in many of these places he found himself at. Through songwriting, Utah coped with these moments of solace, with tracks like “Old Me” becoming byproducts of these solo writing sessions. 

Those moments did not deter Utah from traveling either. Utah had the opportunity to work with new people in the music industry, like Benzi Edelson, a music producer at Arcade Songs. While working with Edelson, Utah talked about how he created his first single “Nights Like This” and the inspiration behind the track. 

“I remember ‘Nights Like This’, we were doing such late nights. We were in Manhattan, I think it was like the 10th floor or something, so you could see the buildings literally in the middle of the city.” And, while recalling details about Edelson's old studio, like the H&M building across from them, he saw the inspiration for his first ever single.  

“And man, we would go up there and I remember making that song and just like looking over the city of Manhattan, it's like 1a.m. That's where ‘Nights Like This’ came from. I was literally just looking over the city, so inspired, it's like, ‘wow, like we're on top of New York City right now.’”

As traveling continued to play a massive role within his career, Utah naturally decided it was time to move out of La Crosse, with his heart set on what is known as “Music City.”  

The Life Beyond La Crosse

As Utah approaches his eighth year in Nashville, Tennessee, he continues to focus on building authenticity and his own identity as an artist.  

Utah and Hood have co-written and co-produced often, with their recent track, “DAREDEVIL,”marking their eleventh collaboration. Utah describes how these collaborations with artists go beyond making music with each other.

“Any artist I'm working with has to feel comfortable with me and like telling their life story, really because the only way to get to the best inner lyric that we want to get to that connects with them and other people is through that. So, I think that's such an important part that I am always striving to make the room comfortable, whether it be just like their favorite drinks on hand or whatever it is, just always having things that make them in their best creative process…” 

While Utah is known for his collaborative work, his solo work is where his creativity and skills are on full display. His most recent EP “WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN ★”, features eight tracks from multiple periods in his life. While tracks like “LADY,” “CARS,” and “play with my heart” were created within six months of the original publishing of the EP, tracks like “circles” were created back in 2022.

Rather than scrapping his old work, Utah held all of his incomplete work in a folder in case, upon revisiting, he could make it work. By reworking his older tracks and integrating them into his current projects, many of his songs become a reflection of his developing sound and production. When Utah does experience extended periods of writer's block, he resorts to partaking in his daily routine or hobbies, like skiing and occasionally driving an RC plane over the skies of Nashville. 

With several years of experience and two EPs under his belt, one must ask how Utah is able to navigate the pressures of the industry and being an artist in the 21st century.

Where is Utah Now?

Utah went into depth about the intricacies of the music industry. From publishing to labels and record production, it can be confusing for young artists with minimal experience. But, Utah also has to overcome a new endeavor many artists also are still figuring out: social media. 

Because of Utah’s limited access to a phone growing up, he discusses how he is still trying to strike a balance between promotional material and making his presence online feel authentic. 

“I sometimes feel like I'm a little behind when it comes to social media just as a whole. I've always learned things from people, but I think it will always be a work in progress for me. And I'm always just trying to as much as just represent myself when I'm posting and just try to have the online version of me be the same as who I am is like something I'm always trying to be better at and do. So, hopefully, someday I'll feel like ‘okay, it's exactly like me.’ I think it's closer than ever…”

One way Utah is attempting to make up for his perceived lack of social media knowledge is by bringing his gratitude directly to his fans. Whether it is Utah trying to “respond to any message” he receives across his social media platforms or interacting with fans at past tour events, Utah says he wants to always give back to fans that express a deep connection to his music.   

That idea of giving does not stop at his fans. Utah expressed his desire to move the goalpost for himself but acknowledges he needs to give back to himself in a way that is uniquely him. 

“I think you can so easily just be caught in the, ‘... I need another, I need a big song, I need this, I need that, I need a video to go viral, all that stuff.’ But, trying to just stay in the moment and enjoy every step of the way is something I'm always thinking about. Like the goalpost thing, I think it’s right when you get something that you really want, right away I'm going to be like, ‘Oh, but what if I also do this next?’ and so it's like going to be forever… That's just how I am.”

From the small recording booth in Utah’s high school to the studios in Nashville, he may have moved beyond the geographic boundaries of his hometown, but his love for community and being in the moment remains. 

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Disclosure: The interview opportunity was facilitated by HAZZE’s Press Director, who also serves as the artist’s creative director. She did not participate in the writing or editing of this article.

Editor’s note: This article was updated on Aug. 10, 2026, at 1:53pm to clarify that the releases referenced as albums are EPs. The artist informed HAZZE that Spotify and other online sources incorrectly classify the releases as albums.