Darby Ledbetter

Tommy Lasorda once said, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” If that statement is true, a very determined Darby Ledbetter is well on his way to accomplishing the goal he has set for himself—to become a respected singer and songwriter in Nashville. Born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Midland, Darby became interested in music at a very young age. As a child, he sometimes wrote the thoughts that came to his mind—four-liners that bore a striking resemblance to a chorus in a song lyric. At sixteen, he picked up his first guitar, and soon his imagination was fired by the sounds his fingers produced as they moved from one chord to another. His brother, Tak, performed with a local band, and Darby loved listening to the band rehearse and watching his brother on stage. Before he reached manhood, Darby knew what he wanted to do with his life. But it would be another stage in a faraway land that would replace Darby’s musical ambitions for a while. When he was 18, he joined the Navy and soon found himself guarding the Kuwaiti border, protecting residents there from the threat of Sadaam Hussein’s military power in support of Operation No-Fly Zone and later in support of Operation Desert Fox During the course of his four-year tenure in the Navy, he met Cathy Higgins, the lady who would become his wife and the mother of his two children, Nicole and Nicholas, as well as the inspiration for many of the songs he would later write. When his term of enlistment expired, Darby and his new family returned to Texas, ready to begin their lives as civilians. After struggling financially for several months, Darby decided to re-enlist, this time in the Army. He began his service as an E4 in 1996, and was stationed at Ft. Stewart in Georgia. He was later promoted to E5 and became the maintenance section sergeant. In 1998, Darby was deployed to Kuwait again in support of Operation Desert Thunder. “I did three tours there altogether, including Desert Fox and Desert Thunder. If there was a desert, I was in it,” Darby says. Another event in 1998 would change the course of his future. His wife sent a demo that he had recorded to the A& R representative at Asylum Records. Impressed by what he heard, the representative called Darby to ask the young soldier to go to Nashville. Encouraged, Darby began making regular trips there to record another demo, which he hoped would attract a record deal. It was on one of those trips that he met established songwriter, Buck Moore. After Darby recorded one of Moore’s songs, “Love Happens,” the two men became friends and began writing together. Darby’s foot was in the door. And in 1999, Darby and his family packed their bags and made that trip that so many country music hopefuls had made before them. With dreams in his head and songs in his heart, Darby was determined to become a success, but to his dismay, the label had shut down just before he arrived. Darby soon joined the Tennessee National Guard. During his off-time, he did what he was accustomed to doing—rising through the ranks through perseverance and determination, only this time it was in the music industry. That journey took several years, but he eventually gained the notice of several prominent songwriters who recognized in him a talent for writing songs to which audiences could relate—songs about life and love and living, songs that were real. Like Buck Moore had before, writers like Gary Duffey (Paint Me a Birmingham), Buddy Brock (You Gotta Stand for Something), Troy Seals (Seven Spanish Angels), Mila Mason (Dark Horse) and Larry Alderman (Americana) began asking him to co-write with them. In 2004, Darby became a chief warrant officer and was deployed again, this time to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his time there, Darby formed a band (3 Rivers Band) with a few fellow soldiers and soon found himself entertaining troops on weekends, sometimes three times each day. And when The Charlie Daniels Band performed on the USO Tour, it was Darby and his band of soldiers who were chosen to share the stage with him. Charlie, impressed with Darby’s performance, gave him a Fender Stratocaster signed by the band. Upon his return to the United States in 2005, Darby set about recording his first CD, which he named Invincible. Armed with a voice reminiscent of Vince Gill’s—smooth, high and romantic—and an ability to touch souls with his words, Darby pulled from his years in the military to create an album that depicts love and dreams and an undaunted spirit. “My experience in the service made me more receptive to life and a better songwriter,” he said. “I lost some good friends there. I translate some of that into my music. I don’t dream for myself anymore. I dream for those who gave their lives in service to this country.” To date, this determined songwriter and singer has written or co-written about 250 songs. In 2006, half of Buck Moore’s catalog was co-written with Darby. After so many years of being dedicated to a dream, his talent is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Darby stands on the brink of an artist development deal and is poised to take his place among the elite group of musicians and songwriters who have shaped the country music industry.