The former tour bus driver for blues singer, Muddy Waters, entertained a crowd on Saturday at the Douglas-Hart Nature Center by singing and playing three instruments at once.

Musician Deak Harp said he is originally from Oakland, a town near Charleston, which motivated him to play at the nature center.

“Some people got the blues because they ain’t got no money,” said Harp during the performance said. “Some people got the blues because they so ugly, but we don’t got the blues today.”

Harp said he used to be a union carpenter, but has been a musician for 40 years.

“I got lots of stories,” He said. “Some good, some bad, but I like the good ones.”

Harp said he learned to play the harmonica by ear, and he talked about all the notes a harmonica can make and the history of the musical instrument.

Harp said the original harmonic was made by the Chinese and was 10 feet long and made of blown glass. He said he also makes custom harmonicas for people who are serious about the instrument.

“It’s more like folk art though because I paint them all up,” he said.

Harp played a mixture of famous blues tunes and his own songs at the concert.

“You got to play the Muddy songs, because if you don’t play the Muddy songs, they don’t put nothing in your tip jar,” he said before playing one of the band’s famous tunes.

Harp also played songs he recorded for his CD, and one he admitted he only finished that morning.

“I like to play a lot of my own stuff because then I can be myself,” Harp said.

Karen Swenson, of Charleston, heard about the concert and decided to come out with her two daughters.

“It was better than we expected,” Swenson said.

Tina Hissong, the executive director for the Mattoon Arts Council, said she was excited about the amount of people who showed up for the free concert.

“I was just so happy we had a good turn out,” Hissong said.

Kathryn Richter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]