On the afternoon of April 6th, Peterborough’s Washboard Hank (Hank Fisher) and Catfish Willie (Willie Lindsay) took the stage at Take Cover Books. I, along with others of all ages, was fortunate enough to attend this delightful performance. 

The event took place in celebration of the pair’s new vegetable-centered children’s poetry book, The Radish is Reddish and Other Vegetable Poems. This book contains a whimsical collection of poems, written by Washboard Hank with accompanying illustrations by Catfish Willie. 

Rooted in vegetality, the collection presents witty anecdotes about brussel sprouts, carrots, spinach, cucumbers, and more. The author of the poems states he found his inspiration for these in his grandmother Laura Lowes’ garden “that, at an early age, taught [him] to love [his] vegetables”. He explains that this book was, in a way, a “cunning plan” to encourage children to not only eat, but also enjoy these healthy foods. 

Catfish Willie’s artistic talent truly brings these poems to life. The hand-drawn images perfectly convey the stories found within Washboard Hank’s amusing stanzas. The artist spoke to me about the natural task of illustrating this book, saying that it “illustrated itself”. 

The performance included readings of some of these poems by their two creators, and special guest: Bob the Parsnip. In addition to this, the pair also sang many humorous and playful songs from Washboard Hank’s album Big Fun for Kids. These included “Learning How to Do,” “The Dinosaurs Came Back,” “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No More,” and the “very educational” song “You Should Always Pick up a String.”

Having played together for many years, the duo is also very well-versed in performance, delivering stellar vocals and playing instruments like the banjo, the guitar, the mandolin, the kazoo, and the quaker. Washboard Hank also showed us the reason behind his name, by jamming out on his magic washboard, full of fun-sounding gadgets and doohickeys. Another rather unexpected instrument was Hank’s very-own kitchen-sink tuba, fabricated by the performer as a way to speak the language of dinosaurs. 

The inspiration behind these instruments came to Washboard Hank at a very young age, he first became intrigued with musical “mechanic gizmos” at the sight of Dick Van Dyke’s one-man-band in Disney’s Mary Poppins. From then on, he has been passionate about making these types of wacky and interesting artistic contraptions. 

Overall, although this event was targeted towards children, I ended up having a blast. The lively environment created by the pair’s poetic, musical, and comedic talent was one that I am grateful to have experienced. In addition to their tremendous talent, Washboard Hank and Catfish Willie are incredibly kind and funny people. For the parents and vegetable enthusiasts out there, I suggest purchasing the pair’s phenomenal book, The Radish is Reddish and Other Vegetable Poems, as it is extremely well-written and illustrated. I also heavily recommend seeing them perform if given the chance, especially if you have children.