Career
She began her career appearing with bands in and around the Louisville, Kentucky area. In 1966 Darnell signed with Dot Records. Her first and only release on Dot (45-16906)(Bachelor of Medicine-21109) was on June 29 of that year.
The release contained two songs penned by songwriter Hank Mills and received great reviews in Record World Magazine and the "A" side "Not Maine" was predicted to hit the "Hot Country Singles Chart" in the July 23, 1966 issue of Billboard Magazine.
On June 29, 1966, in the excitement and celebration of the event of the release of her first recording, her father, age 59, had a massive heart attack and died while listening to the record. lieutenant was several years before Darnell finally reconciled with her father"s untimely death and returned to performing.
Darnell continued touring and performing regularly until 2004.and still makes occasional appearances with some of her lifelong musician friends. In 2010, Darnell"s first book of poetry was published under the pen name Velva Darnell-Waldman.
The book is titled "Poems of love and life".