Musician, bicycle activist and collective farm resident, Kristine Pettersen – AKA "Thistle" – releases her new CD, called "Animal Dreams," on Saturday, June 14, at Jewel In the Lotus Yoga Studio, 821 E. Johnson, in Madison.

"('Animal Dreams') is a collection of original songs meant to honor ecstatic experience. (It's an) experience that will inspire us towards love, wonder, enjoyment and solidarity in our resistance to empire and insanity," says Thistle. "This disc will propel you to consider leaving car-culture behind and riding your bike into the future."

Thistle's CD release party costs $7 , and includes local foods crafted by Madison caterer Andy Hands and wine selected from the cellars of Roger Pettersen. Thistle will perform live with bassist Ken Keeley and cellist James Waldo.

Here's more from Thistle:

OnMilwaukee.com: How would you describe "Animal Dreams" to someone who never heard it?

Thistle: My new album is like a sunset during a hurricane, a day completed in the midst of a storm that has changed the landscape. It expresses sites and sounds from five years of biking thousands of miles on bike tours across the country. It is raw and honest, yet beautiful and well-crafted with harmonies, and melodies woven skillfully throughout.

OMC: Who else plays on the album?
Thistle: Don Pautz plays flute, Steve Pingry and James Waldo play cello, Matthew Sanborn plays keyboards, bass and does sound effects, and Scott Caldwell plays drums.

OMC: What / whom inspire your songwriting?
Thistle: I write songs about what is happening right in front of me and then spiral off into the ether, writing down what the spirit of the moment whispers into my ear.

Some over-arching themes are resistance to dominant culture and capitalist economics, bikes, growing gardens, hidden truths, climbing mountains, learning to love deeply, taking emotional risks, stargazing, long summer days, my friend Celeste who is riding her bike from Milwaukee to the CD release party, my comrades at Drumlin Community Garden who plant corn, beans and squash to feed themselves and their community, and the women of Oaxaca who took over a government-operated TV station for one month because they were not being heard.

OMC: Where did you record your CD?
Thistle: I recorded it in Matthew Sanborn's basement studio in Madison. This was the second CD I recorded with him. The last project was called "We Are More."

OMC: Are you interested in starting your own label someday?
Thistle: I don't have my own label and would just like to get my music out there, however the politics of the times allows for that without exploiting myself or others economically. If creating a label would help that goal, I would be interested. I am not much of a business-oriented gal.