Music to our ears: Bob Pyle brings veggie-friendly lyrics to the radio.

Imagine that you're driving along a winding country highway, and a song comes on the radio.

   "Oh, a factory farm is nice and neat
   There's a stall for every cow
   And they don't need cud 'cause there's chemical feed
   On a farm that's factory style ..."

With ballads and dance mixes dominating the broadcast universe, these poignant lyrics certainly command a listener's attention. And that's exactly what Bob Pyle is trying to do with his new CD, Apples & Oranges.

"I wanted to perform vegetarian and animal rights songs that were positive and that would hopefully be played on the radio," Bob said. "The media is so powerful, and I wanted to use it to help put across a vegetarian point of view."

Not a surprising aim for a singer, songwriter, and award-winning old-time banjo player who has been both a musician and a vegetarian for more than a quarter of a century.

"I stopped eating meat when I was 16 years old," he said. "My parents took me to see our family doctor, who told me how lucky I was to be able to eat meat, and that, in other countries, they wish they could. I didn't listen to him. It is not necessary to eat meat.... Why create misery for fellow living things when it is not necessary?"

This was near the same age that he discovered a love of music that continues to this day.

"I was the introverted type, and music and songwriting allowed me to express myself in ways I couldn't do normally," he said. "I listened to a lot of music from the 1920s, such as string bands and vaudeville performers."

With Apples & Oranges, Bob has combined these vintage musical styles with some uproarious lyrics to offer a socially relevant message about the foods people eat and where they come from. The album features 12 songs, including the accordion-laced title track, a brisk calypso number titled "The Mango Fandango," a folk melody detailing "A World Made Out of Spam," and a disturbingly affectionate, French-peppered ode to "Petunia the Pig."

Apples & Oranges is Bob's first solo album, and listeners have given it a positive response since its release in April. "So far, it has been played on at least 10 European radio stations, and I am receiving a lot of response from that," he said. "People seem to really like the upbeat old-time string band music, and I am selling a lot of CDs for that reason."

When Bob isn't performing vaudeville-inspired, veggie-friendly songs, he has a small business cleaning and repairing roof gutters in Ellicott City, Maryland. He also devotes much of his free time to supporting the vegetarian movement. However, he doesn't think his protests against furriers will get his ideas about vegetarianism and animal rights across the way that this album will.

"I want this CD to be heard by as many people as possible," he said. "It was produced on two levels. The first was to have great songs that were fun to listen to. You can attract more flies with honey than vinegar. The second was to get people to think about becoming vegetarians, and to make people proud to be vegetarians."

To listen to excerpts from Apples & Oranges or to learn more about Bob Pyle, visit his website at <www.bobpyle.com>.

Keryl Cryer is Senior Editor of Vegetarian Journal. She received a Master of Arts in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore in May.