Gary Durrenberger calls himself a late bloomer to music.
He was in his early 30s when he decided, at his sister-in-law’s urging, to buy a guitar. Of course, he had no idea how to play it, so he taught himself.
A couple years later, he started writing music. Then he started singing for family and friends. And then he tiptoed out into the public arena, showing off some country music chops that came a little natural. Don’t all Texas boys have a little honky tonk and twang in their blood, after all?
Through it all, Durrenberger, who lived in Tucson for 20-plus years before moving back home to Texas several years ago, and then to Phoenix a couple years back, never quit his day job in mortgage financing.
But he sure would like to one day.
His after-hours career seems to be moving in that direction:
- Two of his songs made it onto the ABC series “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
- A song he wrote and recorded as a demo in 2006 landed in a scene in the major studio horror flick “Demonic,” which went straight to Netflix.
- And he’s sitting on a song that he thinks has a good shot at being picked up by a Nashville hitmaker.
“I’m No Hero” strays from the ubiquitous patriotic military formula. Instead of saluting the homecoming soldier, it suggests that the real hero is the soldier’s wife, who stayed behind and kept life moving along in his absence.
Durrenberger said of all the songs he’s written, this one is his most commercial, meaning he can imagine it playing on mainstream country radio.
“I’m very proud of that one,” said Durrenberger, who will perform at Players Pub in Catalina on Saturday, May 19. He has a standing monthly gig at the bar, 16024 N. Oracle Road, in addition to regular gigs in Scottsdale and Fountain Hills in the Phoenix area.
“I’m No Hero,” which was honored by the Austin Songwriters Group, was a year or more in the making. Durrenberger said nailing down the melody was tricky; he wanted the song to have an impact, and those kinds of songs don’t always come overnight.
“The song sucks the air out of the room,” he said of the end result, a midtempo, twangy tribute that declares “No sir, I’m no hero / You must be thinkin’ of my wife.”
Durrenberger, 49, has recorded a number of demos, several of them posted to the music share site Reverb Nation (reverbnation.com/garydurrenberger). His music leans more on the neo-trad side, with fiddles, steel guitar and definitive nods to the country swing he grew up listening to in the rolling prairies of central Texas.
His Hollywood coups aren’t making him rich, he is quick to note, although he has gotten royalty checks from “Extreme Makeover” being shown in France, Germany and the Czech Republic.
“It’s certainly not about the money,” he said of film credits. “It gives you credibility in the industry. ... I think it’s certainly a step in the positive direction. It’s not my ultimate goal; my ultimate goal is to have songs on the radio.”
Durrenberger’s show on Saturday begins at 9 p.m. There is no cover charge. Follow him on Facebook (facebook.com/noherogarydurrenberger) for details.
