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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.

“Those artists hold a lot of importance to me because they influenced my time of change and amalgamating my influences is a progression towards authenticity. If my music is authentic, it's me. Every one of these songs comes from a different piece of my own spectrum but they're still mine,” Thiessen beams. “My way of life, the way it affects me and the songs I write is really important to me so I want to communicate clearly in hopes that the intention is clear: I made this, this is why I made it and how it has changed my life. To me, Give Up The Fight is about trying to gain clarity, evolving and that drive to be honest.”

Captured at MCC Recording Studio by producer Rick Mizzoni (Crystal Kid, Jo Hikk), Give Up The Fight boasts tracks such as the title tune's sinewy melody underpinned by a shuffling groove, “Radio” with its sugary simplicity and the subtle sincerity of “Gravity” delivering that genuine articulateness with ease. Countered by awe-inspiring works such as Thiessen's take on the “Kali Jai” mantra—having dreamt it was taught to her, she awoke to play it entirely—Give Up The Fight is as formidable and adventurous as it is inimitably bold, supportive and inspirational. Not unlike the personal empowerment of yoga itself.

“Some of these songs are offerings of how people can see their lives or the world,” Thiessen notes about Give Up The Fight's contextual inspiration. “Others are just me going through my own processes to find that path of clarity. A friend of mine lent me a book that said if you don't have to do something, don't. It's a hard life. I learned how to play and write music late in life but I still did. Now I realize that I just can't not do it. We all need to give up some fights but when it comes down to it, this is one that makes me who I am. I'm following my dream and being liberated by it. It's spiritually rewarding and there's something to be said for it.”