Darden Smith was born in Brenham, Texas, in 1962. He was raised in Austin. He began writing songs at a young age and since then has been recording and touring since 1986. He has garnered a reputation as a very successful and respected American singer-songwriter. Darden sees art making as a natural expansion of music. 

He works in a variety of mediums including: drawing, photography, illustration, video, and printmaking. His works are centered around storytelling and a music-like sensibility to "rhythmic visual dissidence-the objects and repeated patterns in our lives."

Darden Smith has released seventeen albums and composed music for film, TV, and theater. His works are featured in the collections of the Library of Congress' Prints and Photographs Collection and numerous private collections