Amusing kids, one washboard song at a time

By Phillip Reese -- Bee Staff Writer

Washboard Willy has a special invitation for children of all ages.

"Let's go to a garden," Willy says. "An octopus's garden!"

The way to this particular garden is through the streets of Old Sacramento, past several stages set up for the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee. Willy is the guide, hauling a wagon full of gear, a customized washboard with lots of bells and whistles strapped across his chest.

There'll be singing and marching and even a little dancing on the way, courtesy of Willy himself.

"I'd like to be under the sea," Willy sings, reviving the old Beatles tune while scratching his washboard. "In an octopus's garden in the shade."

This is what Willy does, traveling 300 days a year to fairs, festivals and parties, his big wagon and washboard in tow.  

"Washboard Willy is very funny," said 7-year-old Briana Wehe, who marched alongside him Saturday, a balloon sword in her hand and a balloon hat on her head. "He's fun to play with. I like the music."

Of course, Washboard Willy hasn't always been Washboard Willy. There was a time when he was just plain Larry Hiskett, a successful landscape architect.

The transformation started when Willy was a young adult. He loved music and played drums full time in a band.

But then he went to college - Kansas State University - to study.

He got a degree in landscape architecture and took jobs working for cities in Colorado. In Evergreen, he met a neighbor who had a banjo and a guitar - and a band. He got invited to a picking and grinning party.

"I decided instead of taking over drums, I took over an old washboard," Willy recalled Saturday. "I played and they said, 'Hey, that is good.' "

So Willy started playing more with the band. He broke several washboards until building his own custom job in 1984.

He moved to Loveland, Colo., and got a job with the city there, but he kept playing his music.

"I always had a band somewhere," he said. "I just gave it away as much as I could."

Then, in 1987, Willy was in a bad motorcycle accident. He was scraped up and a friend was hurt worse.

That shook Willy up. He kept working, but something wasn't right.

"A year later, my boss came up to me and said, 'When do you think you will be able to give 100 percent back to the city of Loveland?' " Willy recalled.

Never, the answer turned out to be.

"I took off and started this journey called Washboard Willy with no clue how I was going to survive."

Willy played gigs when he could. He got invited to go to Japan as a cultural ambassador for Colorado with a few others in the early 1990s. In 1992, he went back to Japan for several months by himself.

"I put together some background noise and a little PA and started playing in a restaurant," Willy recalled. "I would set up a stage and play and sing, and the kids would come up and be very serious."

Willy wanted the kids to loosen up. So he put a few small rhythm instruments out and encouraged them to play along.

"Before long, I had 30 kids following me," he said.

Willy returned from Japan and decided to focus his attention on children's music instead of playing clubs and bars.

Now, he's often booked solid, touring up and down the West Coast with his wife, Donnis Hiskett, who goes by the stage name Wishboard Wanda. They live in a recreational vehicle, Willy said. They often stay over with friends as they travel from show to show.

"It's really all about following your heart," Willy said. "This is truly doing what I love."

Washboard Willy will be playing at the festival today and Monday. He'll be on the Old Sacramento streets and at the children's stage.

Just look for the guy with a funny hat and a washboard who is pulling a big cart. He'll probably be singing a song, maybe this one about his life.

"I'm a pied piper, a rhythm viper, with a gypsy in my soul," he will sing. "I travel around from town to town, playing my one-man show."