America's "Singing Farmer" Becoming National Celebrity

America's "Singing Farmer" Becoming National Celebrity AG WORLD Ag World 22-4-21 There's probably no better known farmer in North America than Bob Parrish, who's recently been featured in magazine and news-paper articles and has appeared on numerous TV shows. The Fennimore, Wis., dairy farmer is billed as America's "Singing Farmer", with a high baritone voice and a two octave range (A flat to A flat) that he says is better than Luciano Pavorotti's. "That's a boast, not a lie. I never lie," says Parrish, 74, who recently completed a three-month, 6,000-mile promotional swing through the Midwest and South giving away free cassette tapes of himself and making public appearances. The tour came 30 years after his promising vocal career was put on hold by an untimely personal tragedy. In the mid 1960's, after two years of commuting from his farm to Chicago for formal training, the singer was poised for stardom. He had been a featured soloist at Chicago's McCormick Place and was invited to sing at New York's Carnegie Hall. That's when his wife of 23 years, Edna, died unexpectedly of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 47. He was 42. After that, Parrish stayed pretty much on the farm to raise his two young daughters, milk 150 cows, and farm 400 acres. He per-formed occasionally at such events as the World Dairy Expo and various farm shows around the country, but reserved most of his singing for his cows. "Some newspapers have reported my singing increases milk production," he says. "I can't say that I ever noticed a difference. All I know is that they all used to push their ears forward when I sang." His repertoire includes gospels, oldies, patriotic songs and, of course, opera. "English-speaking cows prefer any of the former three styles, while Italian-speaking cows prefer the latter," Parrish jokes. After an "On The Road" piece by Charles Kuralt of CBS last summer, Chicago TV station WGN asked Parrish to sing on the air. "I told them I had to get the corn harvested first," says Parrish, who eventually appeared on Oct. 29. "When I asked them what they wanted me to wear, they told me to come straight from the field." By then, Parrish had sold his cows and farm and was kicking off his tour in his Lincoln Town Car, pulling a 17-ft. travel trailer. The tour gained him a lot of press attention. While Parrish is a master of self-promotion, there's something else he's trying to promote as well. "I can be a product of great value to the American farmer by promoting the industry through my voice," he says. Parrish has three cassette tapes - oldies, gospel, patriotic - available for $7.75 apiece plus $4 S&H, or all three for $20 plus $4 S&H. To order, to hear a sample of America's Singing Farmer, or book a performance, call 800 955-7190, 24 hours a day. Or write P.O. Box 121, Stitzer, Wis. 53825.

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