When asked how he got involved in radio, 1430 WNAV morning show host Bill Lusby states, "I sort of came through the back door, but that's better than coming in through the bathroom window!" Not exactly the avenue most other broadcasters follow.

Three years ago, Bill was approached by his friend Walter "Bucky" Murphy. "First, I was stunned when he told me he was giving up his career as a lawyer to lease local radio station WYRE; then floored me when he asked me to be a part of the air staff."

Up to that point Lusby, an Anne Arundel County resident for 30 years, graduating Severna Park High School '69, had been earning a living as a professional musician and occasional night club disk jockey.

"Being a working musician was a lot of fun for the most part. I had the opportunity to see most of the U.S. and Europe. Of course, there are lot of 'war stories' from those years, but I'll save them for another time."

Even though Bill was enjoying a fair degree of success as a drummer, from time to time different people would ask the question every musician dreads: "Music is a nice hobby, but when are you going to get a real job?"

After being approached by Murphy in 1995, Bill pondered, "Hmm... Radio jock, could that be considered a 'real job?'" In Bill's estimation, if they withhold taxes from your gross pay, it must qualify as genuine employment.

Murphy then informed Lusby that there was small wrinkle with this new job, declaring, "None of the other DJs want to get up at 3am, so you have to do morning drive!"

Ouch! Being a musician, Bill had seldom gone to bed by 3am, but the pull of "real" employment was strong and the task was begun.

After about a year and a half under his belt as morning man, Jake Einstein (80-year-old radio maverick) asked Bill to take over mornings and music scheduling at 1430 WNAV.

Lusby says, "Jake told me he was looking for a music man that could interpret his ever-changing musical thoughts. As much as I enjoyed my first position in radio, Jake is the kind of guy who makes it hard to say no. I moved over to mornings on 'NAV in April of '97. Since then, I've listened to literally thousands of songs while assembling our diversified playlist."

Bill lives with his wife Paula and stepson Joseph on a farm in Lothian (south Anne Arundel County) and still finds time to play music on the weekends. (Old habits are hard to break.)

Check out Bill Lusby in the morning on 1430 WNAV and in Real Audio on WNAV.com. He's on 6am - 10am immediately following NBC's First Light every Monday through Friday.