'Washboard Willy' entertaining the crowds at the Big Fresno Fair

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- In our search for the unusual, you don't have to go far at the Big Fresno Fair. We found an entertaining guy who turns everyday items into musical instruments.

Washboard Willy does much more than just sing. He's armed with everything but the kitchen sink though he does have egg beaters to stay in rhythm as he sings a Glen Campbell favorite.

The transformation from Larry Hiskett to "Washboard Willy" began 30 years ago in Colorado.

Hiskett explained, "I left the landscape architecture profession to go do the washboard thing. I was a park planner for the city of Loveland."

But office work wasn't for him. He was just drawn to the washboard.

So he had no choice but to try something new. It was time.

Now he makes people smile at county fairs around the country.

Washboard Willy's ability to keep a beat makes sense. He was once a professional jazz drummer but now he marches to the beat of a drum he hears inside his head and he keeps coming back to Fresno because he loves it here.

Willy says, "As I'm playing I encourage the kids to come up, grab instruments and play along."

You'll find this one-man band just outside the fair's historical museum.