Album Notes

The work and music of Kristine Pettersen reflect a life full of sounds, restlessness and an urgent desire to communicate social change. Her melodies are sometimes piercing, sometimes gentle but the effect of listening to her whole body of work, leaves one feeling the pulse of life still surging through the veins of a segment of our society that is too often invisible; people's movements for grassroots change.

She began making music as a two-year-old riding on the back of her father's bicycle as he took her to pre-school. Roger, her father recalls that "...it was like having a little a bird on the back of my bike." She was deeply influenced by her father's choice of transportation as she is now choosing to live her life from the seat of a bicycle and to pedal her music across America. Her music and her lifestyle choice intertwine to create a performance that moves from talking about her experiences on the road to songs that are inspired by the steady movement of the bicycle wheels beneath her as she rides.

She was trained as a singer in college where she sang for four years in the Augsburg choir, traveling to California, Colorado and Europe to perform in churches and at colleges. She began playing the guitar in high school and started writing songs right away. Her work is a reflection of what many of us experience on a daily basis as we struggle to understand and overcome the devastatingly large problems our society faces in these times of war, environmental destruction and instability. In her songs, she asks us to come to terms with our personal part in the unsustainable economy we participate in and to find happiness in true expression. Her urgent messages point to the need for honest action in order to transform our fossil fuel based economy into one based on mutual interest and shared need.

Here is what the critics and fans say:

"Pettersen's faith in human qualities makes paradise ring extremely clear and true, loud enough to realize that peace might be just beyond chaos."

-Mark Ziemba Current Ann Arbor, Michigan

"A unique quality of Kristine's songs is to move not only your heart, but your feet to stand up."

-Douglas Schwaab from Madison, Wisconsin

"Kristine's voice is so genuine and true, I love to put on her CDs when I am home alone because her voice soothes, but also challenges me to be stronger."

-Susan Sandhill from Madison, WIsconsin