Criss Cheatham received his Music Performance Degree from Belmont University in Nashville with an emphasis on drums and percussion. After graduation, he toured the world with various national acts and has appeared on either television or radio with Jay Leno, Trisha Yearwood, Trent Tomlinson, Cledus T. Judd, Brad Paisley, Trailer Choir, Bomshel (Curb Records), The Naked Cowboy, DOD/USO Overseas, Ryan Pelton (Elvis Tribute Artist of the Year), Vince Gill, Jared Blake (NBC's "The Voice"), and Jared Weeks (Hinder and Saving Abel) to name a few.

Cheatham's longest tenure is with rock band "August Christopher", where he has shared stages with Train, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Seven Mary Three, Skid Row, Tower of Power, Vince Neil, Loverboy, Ludacris, Club Lavela Spring Break (MTV and Girls Gone Wild), Pat Travers, Afroman, Bulletboys, Rehab, Sugar Ray, Twista, VH1 "Rock of Love" Peyton Turner, and more.

Cheatham wrote, sang and played guitar for the band, which cut four studio albums and is featured in the rockumentary, "All or Nothing" (directed by Edward Scott - on AMAZON Prime), a film documenting their crazy 14-year, 2500-show career, and the mayhem that followed.

The movie, which premiered to a full house at the 'NASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL' with over 40 original songs and live performances, shows the band making a living with no management or booking agent - playing 250 shows/year traveling in a beat-up van pursuing their dream to become rock stars. "ALL OR NOTHING" shows the breakdowns, tragedies, triumphs and revelations using footage spanning the band's very first show in 1998 to setting their van on fire nearly 20 years later!

AC's video "Down" (written/directed by Cheatham) was nominated for the 'Nashville Independent Video of the Year'.

As a drummer and transposition/chart writer, Cheatham has appeared on 5 Grammy Nominated String Quartet Tribute Albums - via TMR Records (Nashville/Los Angeles) .

During his time with AC, Criss also set the original Guinness World Record for the "Longest Concert by a Solo Artist" (400-song, 24-hour performance), raising money and awareness for the troops of the 101st Airborne.

Cheatham also held a 2-year talk-radio career working for Cromwell Radio Group as creator and host of "Welcome 2 The Big Letdown", a potpourri of humor, wit, horrible jokes and intentionally upsetting audiences worldwide. Episodes can be found on the August Christopher website.

As a songwriter at Superline Music, Cheatham has composed music for MTV Undressed, WCW Wrestling, New Balance Shoes, Fox/Sports, Mad Dog Radio XM, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, National Geographic, Speed Channel, TNT/TBS, iHeart Radio, and Cromwell Radio Group.

(Trisha Yearwood)

In the movie business, Criss worked as Music Supervisor, Director of Bands, and instructor for the $30 million "The Identical" (Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta), extensively with Seth Green, teaching him drums for the film. He has also appeared with the likes of Johnny Knoxville ("Legend of Daltry Calhoun"), Kevin Sorbo, Shelley Long, and Michael W. Smith throughout the years; and has also worked as a CBS spokesman for Nashville's CMAFest.

(Seth Green)

Cheatham currently operates ACnashville Studios as a session drummer/guitarist/producer and still tours regularly with various artists, including shows with August Christopher. His debut solo record "Get The Funk On" will be released in 2020.

(The Naked Cowboy)