His talent was encouraged and nurtured by his mother, Esther Brown Hurley, who had a career in the early days of Texas radio traveling by train from Fort Worth to stations in San Antonio and Houston where she sang and played piano live.

He appeared on the band's studio recordings and live performances throughout America, including Carnegie Hall, Cafe Rouge in Hotel Pennsylvania and the Paramount Theatre, New York City.

Hurley played the trumpet solo on Glenn Miller's "In The Mood", "Slip Horn Jive" and "Tuxedo Junction.

In 1941, he played the trumpet track for the classic Walter Lantz cartoon "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B."

On April 20, 1940, Hurley was listed in the census as living with his then wife, Katherine Ann Foster (b. June 7, 1917, d. September 3, 1994) at 4114 Prescott Ave., Dallas, Texas, the house of his in-laws.