Larry Hillberg

Back Roads

Saturdays from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM

Ease into your Saturday mornings with first class music, past to present, including folk, acoustic, singer-songwriter, Americana, Country, and more.

On Earth Since: May, 1942

Hometown: Munising, Michigan; a genuine Yooper

With KVMR Since: 2001

Email: walkinglarry @ kvmr.org

Larry first radio listening was force fed. As a child, made to lie still and quiet on the living room floor at his grandparents homestead farm in Upper Michigan, he learned of the world from Gabriel Heatter and his nightly newscasts. "There's good news tonight."

Radio defined the stages of his life, from Edgar Bergen and Jack Benny to Ernie Harwell and Detroit Tiger baseball, from Dick Biondi on WLS Chicago to Silky Straight ads and Little Willie John on late night WLAC Nashville, from Top 40 music homogenization to eccentric KFAT Gilroy, and from AM deejay banter to overnight mystery with Art Bell. Nevertheless, Larry wanted to grow up to become a rocket scientist or a doctor. But his parents wanted him to be a deejay.

Larry's connection to KVMR began when driving home to Morgan Hill from Reno one Saturday morning about a dozen years ago and surfing onto Brian Terhorst and Eric Rice. This serendipitous moment froze radio button 5 on 89.5 FM and ultimately influenced a move that led to the Sierra foothills.

By the time he seized early retirement from IBM Corporation and moved to Colfax, he was a seasoned KVMR listener and soon an active volunteer. When he planned a 2000-mile walk to Michigan for his 40th high school reunion and to commemorate the new millennium, his good friends Danny and Julie Chauvin asked if he would phone in to their Street Legal show during the walk. "What? Me? Why would I want to be on the radio?" But he agreed, and every 2 weeks for 4 months, telephoned Danny and Julie and spoke on air about his journey. On the first call, when Danny told the listeners "Our friend Walkin' Larry just phoned in from somewhere out in left field," Larry took on a moniker that has stuck at KVMR ever since. And began a journey that changed his life.

Larry completed KVMR broadcaster training in 2001. After further help from Danny and Julie, years of doing early morning shows, and a love for radio that never dies, he now has the humbling opportunity to continue the John Nichols and Brian Terhorst Saturday morning legacy. Grateful for the privilege of being part of Community Radio, moving across time and among the genres, Larry strives on Back Roads to entertain and engage the individual listener.

Larry knows that KVMR is unique. "It is a miracle how volunteers can not only keep a radio station alive and functioning, but also create a 24/7 amazing variety of great radio."

Listeners can ease into Saturday mornings with an eclectic mix of Larry's favorite music, new and old, and including singer-songwriter, acoustic folk, bluegrass, country, blues, Americana, Celtic, standards, stories, cowboy poetry, and an occasional conversation with people about their own passions.

Check it out!