Durbin Amazes Fans at Local Pizza Shop

The line stretched from the counter out through the door Wednesday evening at Pizza My Heart on 41st Avenue, as the crowd poured in, anticipating yet another electrifying American Idol performance from James Durbin.

In the last few months, the 21-year-old Santa Cruzan has dazzled both viewers and judges as he has sung his way to the show’s top 10.

Wednesday night’s performance was no different for Durbin, who belted out the words to “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney.

Among the crowd of diehard Durbin fans was Dale Ockerman, a musical mentor to the young singer. Ockerman is a teacher at the music school he founded called Musicscool, (as in "music's cool") and was at one point the keyboardist for The Doobie Brothers.

He says he met Durbin when he was 18 and studied with him. He instantly knew that he was gifted. Within no time at all, Ockerman found work for Durbin as front man in a Led Zeppelin project, and their musical collaborations continue. Just before leaving for Los Angeles, Durbin was learning the fine art of blues harmonica at the hands of his mentor, and he learned to bend notes, something that can take weeks or months to master—in a day.

Ockerman says Durbin’s success “means a lot to a lot of people.”

Among those people is Stephen Gehman, bassist for Durbin’s former band, Hollywood Scars. Gehman met James in February 2010 when he joined the “glam classic rock band,” in which Durbin was the front man.

“James showed up and started singing, and I was like, 'Oh my God, this guy’s amazing.'” said Gehman, who watched the performance on big-screen TVs at the pizza restaurant. 

Rick Deschamp, former American Idol contestant and high-school friend of Durbin, was also in the crowd to show his support. He recalled how Durbin had supported him through the entire audition process, and now he wanted return the favor.

As Durbin took the stage, the crowd at Pizza My Heart erupted in cheers. As soon as he began to drop that smooth melody, though, the restaurant went silent. All the Durbin supporters watched in amazement as he delivered a mesmerizingly soulful performance of the McCartney classic. As soon as his last note had rung out, the party was back on.

"James is like a treasure around here,” said Paul House, his friend. 

The results of  the performance and the viewers voting will air Thursday on Fox at 8 p.m. You can follow Durbin on Facebook and Twitter.