Amy Thiessen, a commerce graduate turned musician and yoga instructor, is returning to Cochrane.
Thiessen, a vegetarian who was raised on an Alberta cattle farm, will be back to play at Legacy Guitar and Coffee House Oct. 9 to introduce some of her new music. “I think this is just a special gig, where I get to showcase some of the stuff I’ve been working on and it is kind of the first time I’m starting to showcase it,” Thiessen said. “I’m really excited for that.”
The singer describes her first album as folk-pop, with the second picking up more of a ‘soul-feed-folk’ sound. Thiessen is also working on a secondary project of a self-described ‘almost ancient trip hop’ of yoga music.
“[The show] is not going to be a ton of that – but I think it’ll be interesting to bring to Cochrane,” Thiessen said.
“[The last album] is raw, very raw with a big voice – the new stuff I’m doing is more folk-rocky and I’m going to show you guys a bit of stuff that is on the loop pedal. It’s ambient and trippy.”
After playing her first gig, Thiessen joked that she has been trying to play again at Legacy every since.
“I loved it. It was honestly just such a nice surprise, I don’t know what I expected, but it was way better than what I expected – I kept emailing saying anytime I can come back, I’d like to come back,” Thiessen said with a laugh.
“I’m really excited to come back – the people are always really nice, the food was good and really good coffee.”
Thiessen played Legacy over a year ago after the release of her last album, In Between Goodbyes, and has been busy ever since. Touring across Canada, the singer has also been working on new music with more of a folk-rock vibe. Thiessen recently travelled down to the United States to record some of her new songs in Nashville, Tenn.
“One guy played with Elton John and another guy played with Reba McEntire – [it] was really good, crazy good. I sat there with my jaw on the floor,” Thiessen said.
Singing since she was a kid, Thiessen laughed saying she ‘never shuts up.’ But the Albertan was discouraged from singing, being told it was not a ‘real-career’ and took business in post-secondary school; then her sister passed away when Thiessen was 21.
“I ended up doing a lot of soul-searching, trying to find where I fit and I realized this was something I always wanted to do – I picked up a guitar when I was 25 or 26,” Thiessen said, and she never looked back.
Amy Thiessen will be at Legacy Guitar and Coffee House Oct. 9; for more information or tickets visit legacyguitarhouse.com.
