AJ Cheek was born and raised in Chattanooga where he began playing music at 14. He attended Hixson High School where he and friends formed the band Nevertheless. After a year or two of building a Chattanooga following, Nevertheless signed with Provident Label Group/Sony BMG and toured nationally. Their seven-year career resulted in two full-length albums and two independent EPs.

In 2009, Nevertheless called it quits. Soon after, label mates Revive asked AJ to tour with them playing guitar and piano. Recently, while out with Revive, AJ was inspired to write and record his own project. Rich Thompson (bassist for Revive) approached him with the idea of co-producing/engineering the project. In the last 6 months, the two used down-time from touring to create The Art of Letting Go. Along with Rich, AJ teamed up with a couple other songwriting friends, Chris Moerman (an Atlanta worship leader) and Mike Donehey (of band Tenth Avenue North).

The Art of Letting Go hits iTunes December 7th. The album release show is at Ethos (City Church) in Chattanooga on December 1st. AJ wants people to know his hope for these songs is that God will continue to use them as encouragement in the lives of people through his stories and experiences. The album’s title track is about the last couple of years since the break-up of Nevertheless. “God has taught me a lot about 'letting go' and holding on to Jesus, not finding my identity in anything but Him.” Overall, the theme of the EP is remembering that there is grace in the middle of the night. “No matter where we are, God is there to meet us. It seems simple, but it’s Truth.