Aj Michalka

Amanda Joy Michalka (born April 10, 1991), often credited as AJ, is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and instrumentalist. She used to be a model prior to becoming an actress, and is best known as one-half of the duo 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ) with her sister, Alyson Michalka. In 2010, AJ recorded the theme song for Secretariat entitled It's Who We Are. A video will be released along with the single. Michalka lived and grew up in Seattle, Washington and Southern California with her sister Alyson Michalka. Her mother, Carrie, is a musician and performed with JC Band, a Christian band. Michalka has been playing the piano since she was four and started playing the guitar in her early teens. She started acting when she was seven years old, mostly in church play productions. She was raised as a Christian and continues to practice the faith. Michalka was in a number of musical productions at her school in Milwaukee as a young adult. She plays a variety of instruments such as acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, and bongos. She was a model for catalogs. In March 2006, she made her Disney Channel debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie Cow Belles, as "Courtney Callum", along with sister Aly, as "Taylor Callum". She has also made appearances on shows such as Oliver Beene, Six Feet Under, The Guardian, and General Hospital. She has also appeared with her sister, Aly, in the MTV film Super Sweet 16: The Movie. In 2009, she was featured in the Peter Jackson film The Lovely Bones, released widely on January 15, 2010. Michalka and her sister perform as the musical duo 78violet (formerly Aly & AJ). They have released three studio albums, of which one is a holiday album. The two were working on a new album, to be released in the early 2011.