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, gardener and bicycle enthusiast living
in Madison, Wisconsin. My birth name is Kristine
Pettersen but I like to be called "Thistle." I recently lived on
a collective farm that grew
its own corn, beans and squash that we ate throughout the year.The
situation is dire, however, and the tenants have been forced to leave the two farm
houses with the future of the gardens very uncertain. 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. Unfortunately, the gardens are owned by the
Alexander Company, a national development company headquartered in
Madison. They are trying to get the City of Fitchburg and the public to
go along with their plans for commercial development right on top of
the gardens. 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. Recently, I helped organize a
group bike ride to St.Paul with the Neverwood collective for the 2008
Republican National Convention. Currently, I am working with the
Elements Collective to organize another mobile bicycle village to
Detroit for the US Social Forum. You can download any
of the songs up on the music page for free and find my
schedule
of performances on the "shows" page.
A little more about me: 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). |
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Current News
I am helping to organize the MadTown2MoTown Mobile
Village of Resilience from Madison to Detroit this Summer! We will ride
our bicycles for 11 days in intentional community starting June 10th
and arriving in Detroit for the US Social Forum on June 21st.
Facebook
Myspace
We love you Calico Future! Remember
the great life of Jen Futrell, Eco-warrior woman who was hit by a car while riding her
bike home from work. Jen drove her truck, Black Betty, up from
Louisville to Madison last Summer to be food support for the PNC2RNC
bike ride.
I have a studio-recorded album with awesome art by Kat Beyer.
Several Madison musicians contribute to the album and it sounds
amazing due to the engineering and production talents of Matthew
Sanborn. Click on this box to buy Animal Dreams!
Check out this live performance
from the GrassRoutes Caravan, bicycle village of resistance! The
Summer of 2008, I rode with 40 other people from all over the
country to the
Republican National Convention in St. Paul just in time to do an
opening ceremony with Starhawk and to participate in the protests.
Here
are two other links to my performance and the puppet show, "Peter
Pan for President."The puppet show was created and performed by riders
from the Caravan. I play the part of Wendy.
performance
puppet show
puppet show part 2
puppet show part 3
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