VaShawn Mitchell was born and raised in Chicago, IL, a city known as the birthplace of Gospel music, an art form that has been indelibly imprinted on his life. When he was a teenager, Mitchell became the assistant music director of St. Mark Baptist Church. Then for nearly a decade he went on to serve as Minister of Music at Bishop Larry D. Trotter’s Sweet Holy Spirit Church. As the youngest Minister of Music in that church’s history, Mitchell successfully merged the contemporary themes he composed with the traditional choir vibe that marked the church’s worship services.