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"Amy Thiessen's new CD is an hypnotic mix of rhythms, both musical and spiritual… a hook-laden album that makes you think and move."

-Russell Bowers (CBC Radio)

Uniting. Conjoining. The pairing of spiritual and physical well-being. In its purest form, yoga is an uncomplicated doctrine. It only makes sense that someone would eventually amalgamate yoga with the divine powers of music.

With her debut independent full-length Give Up The Fight, Calgary, Alberta-based singer/songwriter Amy Thiessen is that soul. Bringing about a musical equivalent to the liberation and soul-satisfying power of this ages-old philosophy, her intensely personal music is steeped in soul-fed folk intertwined with a vast array of styles varying from outright rock to ancient mantras.

At that, boasting accolades including garnering the RAWLCO radio production and AMP radio career development grants in 2010, over 200 performances across the nation, showcases on BTV Ottawa, Atlantic CTV, BTV Edmonton, BTV Calgary and BTV Winnipeg, feature play/charting on campus radio and more, Thiessen's richly enthralling voice and powerful guitar chords are clearly a healing entity to both body and soul.

“All that crap we put ourselves through like guilt, anguish or shame? We need to give it up; stop fighting and resisting ourselves; just be who we are,” she declares, referencing the modus behind both the album and her music in general. “If I see a body, that body is beautiful. Still, I see the potential of where it can go. I try to help people find that expansion and radiance of empowerment. A lot of my music is written from there.”

While nurturing an adoration for singing since youth, Thiessen's musical journey initiated well into her adult life. Realigning her personal goals after a pivotal emotional experience, Thiessen followed her life's dream: venturing to India and developing her penchant for healing work, studying yoga and Buddhism. Embracing everything from a Peruvian Shaman's teachings to her own desire to learn guitar, Thiessen's work truly is world-influenced music with innovation and devout resolution.

“If everyone was truly comfortable and happy with themselves, the rest of the world would by symptomatic of that,” she relates observantly as to her motivation behind performing. “Music is my way of connecting to that somehow. I came back from India and started learning to play the guitar as a part of my plan to deliver that essence to people. That work is exemplified in Give Up The Fight.”

Influenced by diverse musical styles, Give Up The Fight finds everything from rock and punk's uncompromising nature to pop music's melodic sensibilities fused into its powerful folk heart. Further motivated by the raw honesty of Ani DiFranco, Michael Franti, Tracy Chapman and the music Thiessen brought back from India, the album draws from mantras, prayer songs and healing in a contemporary fashion. Essentially, Thiessen takes contrasting genres/influences/styles, spawning an inimitable style brimming with enthusiastic gusto.