Who I am and what's here
"Pettersen's
faith in human
qualities rings extremely clear and true, loud enough to realize that
peace might be just beyond chaos."
-Mikael Elsila,
pianist and editor of
the New York Musicians' Union newspaper, NY, NY
Hi!
Thank you for visiting my site. I am a folk singer on a bicycle living
in Madison, Wisconsin. My birth name is Kristine
Pettersen but I like to be called "Thistle." I live on a collective farm that grows
its own corn, beans and squash that we eat throughout the year. Drumlin
Community Garden is part of a growing urban agricultural movement that
plants seeds of food sovereignty, cooperation and cultural harmony in
cities across the world. Our dream is to grow all of the food we
eat with
friends, family and comrades so that we become linked again to our
source of life. I try to live outside of the capitalist
economic
system as much as possible and have spent months traveling by bicycle,
depending on the kindess of strangers, and doing good works in exchange
for food and shelter. A return to simpler ways of relating and existing
as a creature on the earth is a high priority of mine. You can read
more about some of the bicycling adventures I have had in the
"thoughts"
section of this web site. There is also a group mission statement for
the Cycles of Uprising Tour I did the Fall of 2006 and information
about bike riding and organizing in northern California in the section
labeled "redwood ride" above. Currently, I am helping to organize a
group bike ride to St.Paul with the Neverwood collective for this
Summer to protest the Republican National Convention. See my links page
for a link to that site. You can download any
of the songs up on the music page for free and find my
schedule
of performances on the "shows" page. |
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My musical story
I
learned how to sing harmony from my Dad when I was growing up. I sang
in choirs and musicals in high school and was in my college choir that
toured Europe, California and Colorado. I left Madison,
Wisconsin in September of 2003 on my bicycle and rode south to New
Orleans with my partner Douglas. We lived outside of a car for five
months on our bicycles that Fall and Winter, re-wilding ourselves and getting in touch with nature. Since then, I have biked
and played down both coasts and from
St. louis to New Orleans on the Cycles of Uprising tour.. Biking
influences the sound of my
music. The steady rhythm of the wheels beneath me as I ride clears my
mind of anxiety and the songs just come (except for when a car or truck
gets too close for comfort). I have a new studio-recorded album coming
out this Summer with awesome art by Kat Beyer.
Several Madison musicians contribute to the album and it will sound
amazing due to the engineering and production talents of Matthew
Sanborn. Click on this box to buy Animal Dreams!
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