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Peter Harper was performing in his native Melbourne, Australia, years ago and an U.S. auto industry worker approached.

“He was like, oh man, you should come to America,” said Harper, who brings his Detroit-based band Midwest Kind to Little Bar Restaurant in Goodland on Wednesday and South Street in Naples on Friday.

“People say stuff like that all the time but he put his money where his mouth was and assisted us in our first tour.”

Harper found that he loved the U.S. and Michigan in particular, and has lived near Ann Arbor for the last 13 years. 

“The people in Michigan are like people in Australia, good people, hard-working, no rubbish, talk the truth,” he said. “I love Michigan, it gets cold for a few months but it’s not that bad.”

His band mates hail from other Midwest states, including Austin Johnson of Columbus, Ohio, with others from Toledo and Fort Wayne, Indiana. They create what Harper calls “roots music,” a blend of soul, rhythm and blues and rock with some Australia mixed in.

Harper has won numerous musical awards, and his 2016 album “Show Your Love” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Blues Albums chart. 

“It’s pretty much a mixture of everything I’ve ever listened to,” Harper said of songs he writes and plays. “And we always use Midwest guys to play with us.”

As an Aussie, Harper learned to play the didgeridoo — a wood instrument by indigenous peoples of that continent — and brings one with him to every show.

Years ago, Harper said, he was performing and man came up to him and asked if he could play the didgeridoo with him on stage.

“I said, ‘This is weird,’ but it was great,” Harper said. “I started writing songs about the indigenous people of Australia. And it went from there.”

It took him about six months to learn to play the didgeridoo, which requires circular breathing from the core.

He said he tries “not to overdo it” in regards to the unique instrument, adding: “I don’t want it to be a gimmick.”

Harper has traveled the planet, and performed most recently in China to enthusiastic crowds.

“I just wanted to see what the country was like,” he said. “It was fun, it was interesting and people were going out of their way to help.”

Harper pointed to Bill Withers, Led Zeppelin, Bonnie Raitt and blues musician Bukka White as some of his musical influences growing up in the land down under. 

He said he’s looking forward to coming to Florida, with other stop after Goodland and Naples including Sarasota on Nov. 9; Sebastian on Nov. 10; Jupiter on Nov. 13; Punta Gorda on Nov. 14; Dunedin on Nov. 15; and Destin on Nov. 16.

Harper said he hopes their music gives them a good feeling when they leave. 

“When we tour, everyone has the same issues, the same problems but it’s like life’s too short, isn’t it?”

Dave Osborn is the regional features editor for the Naples Daily News and News-Press in Fort Myers. Follow him on Instagram @detroitdave88 and on Twitter @NDN_dosborn. 

Goodland 

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Little Bar Restaurant, 205 Harbor Drive, Goodland 

Information: littlebarrestaurant.com and 239-394-5663

Naples

When: 9 p.m. Friday

Where: South Street Naples, 1410 Pine Ridge Road, Suite 4 (southwest corner of Pine Ridge and Goodlette-Frank roads) 

Cost: $10 cover

Information: southstreetnaples.com and 239-435-9333

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