Spirit Music Group announced today they have formed a creative joint venture with VISCYRL and Arcade Songs. The first signing is emerging 22-year-old writer, producer and pop artist Sawyer Utah, whose debut single “Nights Like This” was released on June 8.
Sawyer Utah began his musical journey writing and recording in his La Crosse, Wisconsin home at the age of seven. As he continued into middle and high school, Utah began mastering the art of engineering and production while elevating his songwriting skills. After a conversation with a family friend, he was connected to music executive Norbert Nix and signed to VISCYRL. Utah’s songs quickly caught the attention of multi-platinum producer and songwriter Frank Rogers of Spirit Music Group in Nashville, as well as Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer Gregg Wattenberg and Tom Lee of Arcade Songs in New York. Utah was fast-tracked into the songwriting circuits in Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville. He’s recently been collaborating with Zach Hood (forthcoming single on Arista Records), Camylio, Prateek Kuhad, Benzi Edelson, Jesse Fink, David Arkwright, Sophie Simmons and many others. His debut single, “Nights Like This”, was released on June 8th.
“I’ll forever be grateful for Norbert seeing my vision and believing in me when we initially met in 2019. When he connected me to Frank, Gregg, Tom, and the entire Spirit/Arcade team, I immediately felt their support. It was a perfect fit on so many levels. I’m excited to push forward and work with this well-respected and distinguished team,” said Sawyer Utah.
“Spirit Music is thrilled to welcome Sawyer Utah and to partner with VISCYRL and Arcade Songs,” said Frank Rogers, Chief Creative Officer, Spirit Music Group/Chief Executive Officer, Spirit Music Nashville. “With Sawyer’s talent and the team around him, we truly feel that the sky is the limit!”
“Meeting multi-dimensional creative Sawyer Utah was a complete coincidence, but after listening to his music, I knew I wanted to work with this young talented powerhouse. His positive energy and musical instincts were key in forging our partnership with Spirit Music and Arcade Songs,” said Norbert Nix, Founder, VISCYRL.
“Sawyer is an undeniable raw talent and amazing songwriter. His voice and energy immediately resonated with me at our very first meeting. This is just the beginning, and we are thrilled to be on this journey with him, Norbert Nix and our partners at Spirit Music Group” said Tom Lee, Arcade Songs.
VISCYRL is an artist development and entertainment enterprise founded by music business veteran Norbert Nix. As president of Triple Tigers Records, Nix was instrumental in the signing of Russell Dickerson, Scotty McCreery, and Gone West (Colbie Caillat). Since its inception in 2016, Triple Tigers has had an unprecedented seven consecutive #1 Country Airplay singles. With the success of Triple Tigers, and his extensive experience in leading promotion and artist development teams for Mercury, RCA, and Columbia Records, he founded VISCYRL – an evolution to the ever-changing landscape of music discovery, promotion, and consumption.
Arcade Songs is an independent music and entertainment company headed by multi-platinum GRAMMY-nominated songwriter and producer Gregg Wattenberg. With a core focus on music publishing and artist development, Arcade Songs works together with creators in all facets including co-writing activities, song-plugging, brand partnership and content creation. The company has worked with some of the world’s top artists in music, including John Legend, Dean Lewis, Noah Kahan, Goo Goo Dolls, Anitta, Enrique Iglesias, Matchbox 20, KYGO, Kesha, Armin van Buuren and Dove Cameron, to name a few. In his own right, Gregg Wattenberg has co-written or produced eight #1 Billboard hit songs. Among Wattenberg’s many awards and recognitions include a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Song (“It’s Not Over” by Daughtry), ASCAP Song of the Year (“Hey, Soul Sister” by Train, 2010), and multiple ASCAP Pop Awards (“It’s Not Over” by Daughtry, “If It’s Love” by Train, “Shattered (Turn the Car Around)” by O.A.R.), to name a few. In 2019, Spirit Music Group acquired Wattenberg’s song catalog, signed him to a co-publishing agreement for future works, and formed a joint venture which allowed Wattenberg to leverage Spirit’s resources to find, sign and develop songwriting talent.
Listen to Sawyer Utah’s “Nights Like This”
Sawyer Utah Social Links:
