AJ Cheek has lived and breathed music for as long as he can remember. After begging his dad to buy him a fender strat at age 14 his love of guitar playing and songwriting skyrocketed. It was also around this age that AJ's faith became a huge part of his life. "My Grandma planted a seed of faith early on in my childhood but it wasn't until my Mom took us to church as a family when I was 14 that I accepted Jesus as my savior," AJ remembers. So with a passion for music and for Jesus it only made sense to start writing songs that incorporated both. A few years later he teamed up with Josh Pearson and what started as some teenagers writing songs in their bedrooms, grew into the critically acclaimed Nevertheless. They were a Provident signed act that built a massive following in hometown Chattanooga, TN and went on to tour the USA many times over while earning themselves a reputation as one of the best live bands on the scene. AJ says "We had such a passion to connect audiences with our songs while putting on an incredible show. It feels like we played every church, club and coffee house in America and we had a great time doing it!" After 7 years, countless shows and thousands of records sold Nevertheless decided to go their separate ways. What could have been a sad time for AJ actually turned into an opportunity to trust God. It was at this time that Revive were looking for a new guitarist and after an introduction through their A&R guy and a few shows, AJ felt the Lord's provision in Revive offering him the full time gig. "I wasn't sure about joining another band, but after hanging with the Revive guys and enjoying their music more and more it made complete sense to join those crazy Aussies on their American adventure." And what an adventure those guys have had! From playing to half a million people on Winterjam, to walking the streets of India, for AJ the Revive journey has been one he will tell his grandkids about! With the recent announcement of Revive calling it a day comes a new season for AJ - Solo Artist. Considering he was the main songwriter for Nevertheless and wrote songs every minute of Revive's downtime this is the right move for this talented young artist, and the theme of these songs is a refreshing change. "I couldn't ignore the songs that were pouring out. I guess you could call them worship songs but I believe the term 'worship' means so much more than a genre of music. Worshipping God needs to cover every aspect of our lives, so these songs are about relationships, times of struggle and worshipping God though these times." AJ recorded a solo EP with producer Rich Thompson (Revive Bass player) late last year called "The Art of Letting Go' which is available here - features the song 'Lift my Head' and has received much attention on _____ the EP is quickly gaining fans. <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/AJ+Cheek">Read more on Last.fm</a>. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.