Darrell was born in Indiana and then moved with his family to Tampa Bay, Florida at a very early age. Tiki bars were everywhere in those days, so he started playing music in Beach Bars and Clubs at the tender young age of sixteen. It wouldn’t be too long before he began writing songs and in 1979, he moved to Nashville, TN.

Hired by Pete and Rose Drake, he became a staff songwriter at the Window Music Company that same year. It was not long before his songwriting began to take off and many of his songs were recorded by Nashville Artists. During this 5-year period of time Darrell Clanton's songs were recorded by: BJ Thomas, Charlie Louvin, Bobby Vinton, Jean Shepard, The Wilburn Brothers, Stonewall Jackson, and Jett Williams. 

However, it was in 1984 that Darrell’s luck went into high gear. Darrell Clanton's  recording of a song written by Justin Tubb was a Radio hit in 1984. The song, (Lonesome 7-7203) began to climb the Billboard charts and Darrell was signed to Warner Brothers records and was nominated by the Academy of Country Music for the New Male Vocalist award that same year. He performed at the Grand Ole Opry five times in 1984 - and Darrell said, “that had the biggest impact ever, on my life.”