Are Dan + Shay Related?

Alright, I admit that I'm not the biggest country music aficionado and my knowledge of this particular scene only extends to the show Nashville and the juicy, never-ending drama between fictitious country stars Rayna Jaymes and Deacon Claybourne. Beyond that I'm a bit clueless. But you know what, I'm a huge music fan and I like a lot of folk-minded, banjo-ridden rock bands like The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons, so why wouldn't I take a chance one the of the biggest duos out on the country charts right now: Dan + Shay. And my first question about them is, are Dan and Shay related?

OK, so it doesn't hurt that both Dan Smyers (left above) and Shay Mooney (right) are really good looking and have dreamy voices, but their hit single, "19 You + Me" sure is CATCHY. In August, they made their daytime television debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and it's pretty much certain that if Ellen DeGeneres supports you, you've got a bright future ahead. I could totally hear their hit single on the pop stations alongside the Taylor Swifts and Carrie Underwoods of the music world. And considering the duo spends time together and dresses very similar, I wondered if they were spawn of the same talented genetic tree. And although I really believed they were, they are not actually blood related!

Smyers and Mooney seem to be suffering from that phenomenon that happens when you spend so much time with your best friend, that you ultimately morph into the same person, and in this case, into a country force to be reckoned with. The guys have only been writing partners since December 2012 after a chance meeting at a party in Nashville, but they both believe it was an instant connection. Smyers told the San Diego Union Tribune,

We wrote 80 or 90 songs the first three months. We became best friends...When we were singing together, it felt natural. We started turning a lot of heads. It seemed to be working. No stress, no fights. It was just about the music.

It sure sounds like these two are pretty much as close as brothers at this point anyway, so who are we to say that they don't consider themselves such? They have also shared that their initial songwriting sessions included a childhood throwback: sheet forts! As Smyers told Taste of Country, "I had no money to pay for heat, so I went to the thrift store and bought a bunch of sheets. [We] tented out the whole living room, and we retained all the heat in there... Shay and I were jamming that night, and we’ve been writing three songs a day every since.” They sound like close bros to me.

And because they actually do look related, why not just take a further look for, uh, confirmation? SWOON.