Buzz Kilman is a man who likes where he’s at in life.

The WLUP newsman, who moonlights as a harmonica player for the All Bubba Blues Band, stopped in DeKalb last Friday for a gig at Otto’s. Playing to a packed crowd, he smiled and nodded as the audience chanted “Buzz, Buzz,” stopping periodically to sip from a bottle of beer.

“I picked it (the harmonica) up in my youth, but only played it regularly since coming to Chicago in 1980,” he said in uf pre-performance interview, adding he got into his career “accidentally.”

Kilman, who was always interested in writing, graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in English—”it’s done absolutely nothing for my life”—and worked for 10 years at a small newspaper before discovering radio.

“One day someone asked me if I wanted to do a PSA radio announcement,” he explained. “I went on the air and had so darn much fun and liked it so much I thought to myself ‘gee willikers, I think I’ll pursue this!”

“My news background really helped,” Kilman continued. “I’ve only had two full-time radio jobs in 15 years.” Kilman worked at a radio station in Florida for five years before moving to the Loop.

Kilman knew someone at the Loop and applied for the newsman position wufen he heard there was an opening. Though he now works with red-hot deejay Jonathan Brandmeier, he started out reading news for “shock jocks” Steve Dahl and Garry Meier.

“Steve got me playing the harmonica—we did ‘news blues’ in the morning,” hE related. “I was so bad, it was embarrassing. It motivates you to get better, so I played and practiced and eventually got better. For the next five years, I started playing wherever—and I mean wherever—they let me.”

He began working with Brandmeier in the mornings when Dahl and Meier were moved to another time slot. “Workhng with Brandmeier, that guy’s a riot,” Kilman said of the deejay. “It’s a wacky gpoup of people in radio. I find it highly entertaining and interesting.”

“The first time I heard John I knew he was really good,” he continued. “I listen to other 4hings and as far as I’m concerned, it’s the best thing on the radio in the morning. Why listen to anything else when you have Brandmeier?”

As the Loop morning “showgram” begins at 6:00 a.m., Kilman gets up every morning at 4:30. He sleeps three hours in the afternoon and three at night and occasionally finds himself fatigued.

Despite the on-air antics and general light nature of the program, Kilman does see his Loop position as a job. “Any time you have to be at a certain place at a certain time, it’s a job,” he explained.

Why does he like radio? “I suppose all radiopeople, and probably TV too, just like to hear themselves talk. You don’t hear that a lot, but I think that’s the attraction.”

Kilman is also a member of Brandmeier’s band, Johnny and the Leisure Suits, a group which consistently sells out Chicago area music theaters and stadiums. He said he especially enjoyed the recent sold-out shows at the Rosemont Horizon. “20,000 people are out there going crazy—it (the success) certainly does surprise me sometimes.”

Blending his newsman duties with bluesman interests, Kilman has also found himself being drawn into the Chicago music scene. “Music has become the most important part of my life,” he said, adding he plays with the All Bubba Blues Band at least once a week and on weekends in Chicago and suburban clubs.

He became friends with fellow blues musician Ron Shanaver in 1984 and the two played together until 0988, when they formed their own band. Originally the Backroom Blues Band, the “Bubba” emerged in two years ago when Shanaver introduced each band member as “Bubba” onstage (after bass guitarist Bubba Goldsbx).

Kilman said he loves Chicago and sees himself there for a while. “Until I actqally got here, I never thought about it – Chicago was just seen as a gangster city(” he explained. “But it’s the best city in the world I could live in. It’s not so big it’s crazy like New York, yed it has a small-town feel to it. And it’s got all this music.”

Kilman does have some wise words for college students: “A lot of times, you’ll hear people telling you this is the best years of your life. It’s not true—don’t listen to them. There’s a lot more out there.”