Paul Cauthen

Cauthen was born in Dallas.
Cauthen grew up in a religious household. His father was a song leader in the conservative Christian Church of Christ, and his father's twin brother was the preacher there. Cauthen's father and uncle sang as a musical duo in church. Cauthen has said that the church he grew up in did not allow instruments, so the focus was on a capella singing of what he called "heavenly highway hymns, the old hymnals", but that if he was active in the church, he would be a fifth-generation song leader/preacher.
Cauthen has said that his family is from Texas on both sides. His grandmother's family was from West Texas as well as part of New Mexico because her father sold drill bits for oil wells. Cauthen's father is a fifth-generation Texan via Montgomery, Alabama, where Cauthen's paternal grandfather went to school with Hank Williams.