_{By Joseph Hawkins}

Who remembers Ultimate Guitar Tabs? That website where you’d spend hours working out how to play your favorite love song for your crush? Yeah, I remember that. And I’m not the only one who’s spent hours there learning how to make music. Cayson Renshaw did, and it was an essential step in his journey.

Renshaw is a veritable powerhouse songwriter, producer, and performer. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he graduated from BYU in commercial music in 2020 and chose to stick around Utah for a while. He’s among the kindest, most humble people I’ve ever met, and not just because he’s a man of few words. His gentle and honest demeanor is reflected perfectly in his songwriting, where he processes life.

I asked Renshaw about his path to discovering his artistry. “It’s been a slow progression. I’ve always felt that I wanted to do music or that I had a gift, but it was a process of building confidence to believe it and act on that belief.” He’s learned, “There are things to learn every step of the way.”

Some of Renshaw’s steps toward professional musicianship include being dragged into a high school choir by an older sibling, only to discover he loved to sing. Or then putting that singing and his love for guitar together and finding that the combination moved people. Or taking a songwriting class in his second semester of college and learning that commercial music was his major.

He observes, “I discovered early that music was my way to communicate or cope with my emotions. I just fell in love with it. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I said, ‘Ok, I’m going to commit and try to do something with it.’” 

And commit he has. With over 100,000 monthly listeners and a brand-new release called Is It Over Yet?, his songs are slowly but surely paving the road for his next steps.

Renshaw’s songs are something special. Sometimes we need books full of great ideas to teach a point. But sometimes, the strongest sermons are as short as a sentence. Nothing displays this truth more blatantly or exquisitely than the craft of songwriting. I’ve often been left in awe of songs that can say in six words what I’ve been trying to articulate in six hundred. Cayson Renshaw is one such artist. 

But songwriting isn’t even Renshaw’s primary focus. He explains that “Being an artist means songwriting comes with it. With songwriting comes the hat of the producer.” And his production is nothing short of magical. He has a gift for developing an atmosphere. He doesn’t need to sing to tell his story; his arrangements do it for him. Every element is treated with such intentionality, giving the feeling that nothing is missing or out of place; it all fits. His warm and airy tones draw you close, while his gentle but direct lyrics reopen wounds you didn’t remember you had. Is It Over Yet? is a remarkable example of this. Renshaw’s songs never feel long enough, and I couldn’t offer him a higher compliment.

Despite this, Renshaw doesn’t define himself as a songwriter or producer. “I’m an artist who tries to create things that help people sort through their emotions. Maybe I’m making [these songs] for myself in some ways. But in a lot of ways, it’s for other people.” I asked him to elaborate on that idea – what makes music his medium of choice to help others? 

He observes, “Music is a powerful way to change and heal people’s hearts. I’ve learned that vulnerability is hard and takes time, but I know it’s a good thing. I’m making music that I hope can help people feel something.” 

While it takes more than a single song to find closure, you may discover enough material to find it if you go through Renshaw’s discography. And lucky for you, he plans to have even more releases very soon.

What I learned from Renshaw, more than anything else, was that incredible musicianship comes step by simple step. Becoming a powerhouse producer, songwriter, and – ultimately – artist like Renshaw takes more than one defining moment. To me, how he can tie these lessons together in a song is nothing short of a superpower.

Make sure to follow Cayson Renshaw on Instagram and stream his new single, “Is It Over Yet?” below.