Joey Leigh Wagtail

Too Much Too Young Fundraising event at PFR Lounge on Sunday 25th January 2026.

Delusions of grandeur – Joey Leigh Wagtail

sunny surfer rock from the mid north coast 

A series of steam vents spew horrid clouds of chemical mist across the balcony outside my little shoebox sized room. Ruining the neon orange sky and what should be a glorious moment of respite with the constant reminder of the never ending rat race I traded my freedom in for. My phone beeps, pissing me off more than usual but I look anyway.

“Hey bro, it’s taken way longer than I wanted but here’s that first album, I think its ready, let us know what you think.”

It was from joey leigh wagtail, a humble mid north coast musician who gave up the blissful paradise of South West Rocks, a tiny town no one has heard of but no one forgets. He had been promising me a copy for the last two or three years but a new born child, a mother with cancer and general life had gotten in his way. Now however it was done and finally in my hands. I hit the link and instantly forget the mists.  Drifting off into the sunny surfer vibes as life’s little dramas began to subside. 

The album starts with chaos, a tale of embracing the chaos and following his feet on a path of his own choosing. It is vintage sunny, surfer rock, laid back and relaxed. Letting you drift away into your own sunny past. Which is what I did, repeatedly four or five times in a row as I hit repeat. I had to know what I was listening to.

“the album is called delusions of grandeur, it’s about all the little mind games we play on ourselves, you can see it everywhere in society. I tried to capture them all in little scenes like an gallery, but with sound.” he says it casually, absentmindedly, like some little country boy from a sleepy seaside village who hasn’t realised what he’s done. 

I put the phone down determined to listen to the album in full. the album switched gears as a thumping stomping beat sounds out taking us into psycho warfare, a song I would later learn was a response to questionable mining practices. 

“I was just kind of pissed you know, that this guy, this CEO, could just destroy nature and culture and receive a buttload of money for it.”

Staring out at the steam vents I agree. You can hear the angst in both his vocals and his guitar work, which shifts heavily from laid back sunny surfer vibes into decidedly rock riffs backed forever by a heavy thumping beat. It is crunchy, it is fuzzy, it is twangy country, before restoring the sunny surfy vibes in the chorus with a meditative wavy, guitar sound backed by beautiful harmonies.  Providing a meditative response to events outside his own control. 

The third track, sweet sugar is a masterpiece in slow country blues that explodes into a boppy rock in the choruses. Like the first two tracks it lingers long after it was last played. Echoing inside my mind at a mere mention of its name. 

The rest of the album continues like this, switching styles and genres at random so It never feels boring or repetitive. Which highlights the versatility of songwriting Joey Leigh Wagtail can call upon at a moments notice. As ode to a barmaid starts once again I am left floating off into my own mind, flicking through photographs of days gone past. Seamlessly finding myself rocked into bliss as Gloria, a light folky finger picking track, before the crunchy rock riffs return in coming home. 

Its slide guitar introduction will one day become iconic. Instantly locking it into my head a week after first hearing it. I can do that with every song on this album, hear it later, on repeat inside my head, called upon command. 

Then the title track kicks in. Delusions of grandeur is another song dealing with the greed of modern humanity. This time the greed of Gina Rinehart. The slow start masterfully builds into an explosion during the chorus, taking you on a journey with the musician. Allowing you to feel the build up and release of emotion he felt when learning about the sad state of the world.   

Then we return to the soulful sunny surfer vibes with shine on, allowing us to relax and digest what we just heard. Bringing that moment of solace we all crave in a crazy world before sliding into Burden.  A song that brings back joey leigh wagtails country roots with some good old fashioned slide guitar interspersed with a glorious rolling riff that invokes comparison with Stevie Ray Vaughn. 

The final track energy, an uplifting cruisy song of love, was written shortly after the birth of his first daughter. Praising the joys of love from father to daughter and in return from daughter to father there are none who will fail to resonate with this song. Its calls for, and praise of, the energy reciprocated in true expressions of love are the reason I love this song more than any other on this album. Providing a poignant juxtaposition to the albums underlying theme of delusions of grandeur.

It’s small town, seaside, surfy rock country vibes from an unknown artist hailing from an even lesser known town. But don’t let that fool you, ‘Delusions Of Grandeur’ showcases the versatility of a soon to be renowned musician and does so with simple and genuine brilliance. There are ten absolute bangers lined up from start to finish. Meaning you can just push play and let it run through, very few albums can do this. There is always some filler, not so with delusions of grandeur. Be warned there is still the risk that you will be caught hitting repeat on each and every track. Each song is so uniquely its own amalgamation of country, folk, soul, blues, in a decidedly surfy vibe delivered with a sweet husky voice guaranteed to melt your cares and worries that you wont want any of them to end. You haven’t heard of Joey Leigh Wagtail yet but once you experience his debut album you are not going to forget his name.