The question may elicit head shakes and laughs, but one listen to this 27-year old Decatur, Ga., singer and even the most realistic wonder.

“I grew up singing in a traditional Pentecostal church, the same way [musical legends] Sam Cooke “You Send Me” and Otis Redding “Sittin? on] the Dock of the Bay” were brought up,” said Ryan Shaw. “Music was everywhere in my life, so it?s natural for me to sing.”