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His parents liked a wide range of musical styles. They were brought up on the Beatles and regularly saw them in The Cavern before they became famous.  It was just 6d (2½p) to go in at lunch time. In the car, they would listen to all styles of music but his dad leaned a little towards country so there would have been some county playing in the house. His dad was a big fan of western and cowboy films so he knew all the Marty Robbins songs at an early age.
Although he enjoyed music, he had no thoughts about being a singer and was training as a solicitor.  His sister Nicola did however work as a singer on cruises and in theatre shows and he watched her at rehearsals for a duo she had formed. At the very last minute, her duo partner became ill and couldn’t perform at an already booked gigs and she asked him if he would stand in as her partner for the night. She knew could hold a tune as he would often sing at home but he had never sung in public. Having been in on the rehearsals he knew the set and although he was terrified about singing he took the chance and agreed to do the gig. He got through it and everybody said he was very good and he got paid. The duo was called Magill and the music was middle of the road, a bit of everything.
His sister left the act shortly but by now Derek had got the bug for singing and he started to do some solo work on the cabaret circuit.  Doing this time he met instrumentalist Dave Marr in 1996 and they started writing songs together.  They were writing all styles of music while both continuing to work solo.
In 1998 there was an advert in The Stage newspaper for a country music talent show in The Saloon Bar in Blackpool (now an Irish venue called Shenanigans). They wrote some country songs and decided to enter the talent show just for a bit of fun and a chance to sing their songs.  They got into the final where they came second to veteran Liverpool country singer Jim Clarke (died January 2026). On that Monday night Dave was speaking to a chap called Tony Hadlow who ran a club and he asked if they would play a half hour set at his club the following Friday.  Dave agreed but it wasn’t easy as they had only written 5 songs so got busy writing some more and put half hour set of original songs and a few covers together ready for Friday. They thought it was going to be a small social club but it turned out to be the famous Fort San Antone in the grounds of the Great Birchwood campsite in Blackpool. It’s the biggest country music venue in Europe and there must have been 1000 people there.
The main act that night was a duo called Cheap Seats who were there to record a live album and Derek and Dave were booked as their support act.  They did their 30 minute set which went down very well. A number of people asked if they would play at their country club. Naturally they agreed so it’s almost by accident they found themselves on the country scene.
They made a very quick decision to form a duo. Dave was doing some solo work and Derek had been singing on the Liverpool to Dublin ferry. With the chance of a lot of work they decided to form a fully pro duo in late 1998 and they revived the name Magill and were quickly touring all over the country.
They started at the height if the first line dance boom but they were initially strictly country with a lot of original songs with covers that were sung their own way to put their own stamp on things. Dave was the guitarist and also played keyboard with some piano vocals which wouldn’t have suited line dancers at all. Derek was the singer and played a little rhythm while Dave sung harmonies and backing vocals taking lead on a few songs.
They did really well. The Cheap Seats was such an influential gig they continued to pick up many bookings as a result. A lot of clubs were full of line dancers and it was inevitable that their performance changed and became more up-tempo to accommodate the line dancers eventually becoming a line dance act. They still did plenty of western clubs where traditional country was still wanted but as time went by they concentrated more on line dance clubs 
At that time, the country circuit was still open to original material which is what they really wanted to do. Sadly that’s no longer true but Derek told me he still does some of the songs but they are harder to drop in now “You can still sing original songs if you can recommend a dance that fits.  I have made it my business to find dances that will fit my original songs.”
Magill were a double Crystal Boot winner in 2003/04 for Dedicated Dance Group, a prestigious accolade honouring top talent in the line dance industry. Magill released three original CD albums, Rockin’ The Country!,The Monster Album and Silly Gilly Show and a number of cover albums.
In 2016 Dave decided to come off the road as he was getting a little weary of continually travelling, he suggested the Derek should continue as a soloist The end of Magill was never officially announced all existing bookings were honoured but anyone wanting to book Magill was offered Derek solo.  So one blended seamlessly into the other. In order to avoid confusion as many people wouldn’t now of Derek Darby, Derek became Derek Magill Darby to avoid people calling him Derek Darby (Magill) etc.  This name is still used today although many clubs now use the name Derek Darby as that becomes better known.
Working as a soloist has been good for Derek. He still works with Dave in the studio as they are still writing together. He was initially nervous about going solo as the duo had a big fan base and he didn’t know how people would react. The fact that Magill never split up officially helped.  
Derek does travel to the south of England but not extensively, so the bulk of his work is in the midlands, the Northwest and even Scotland.
In March 2025 he wrote a new song Come Back To Me and Sandra Speck choreographed a 32 count 4 wall dance for it for it.  This is the first song he has released under his own name for a long time.
Derek see’s a bright future and he already has plenty of gigs for the next couple of years. He is still doing a lot of writing, some for himself and local artists but he is also writing stage musicals so he sees himself going more into writing and production.  But he will always want to perform on the country music and line dance circuit.
Click below to see a video of Derek Darby in May 2026.