Danny Phegan's debut album claims number one spot for Australian country album on ARIA charts

The Walla farmer-come-country crooner has skyrocketed to number one Australian country album on the ARIA charts with his debut effort From Where I Stand.

No one’s more surprised than Phegan, who claims he’s never been much of a singer “but I know a lot of songs”.

The music man, who’s been playing gigs since he was 16, is well-known on the music scene with his mates in The Longreach Band.

This time, though, he had a crack at writing his own material for an album and, if the outpouring of support online is anything to go by, the lovable larrikin has hit the mark.

“At the age of 41 I reckon I’m cherry ripe for doing this,” Phegan said.

“At 19 or 20 I wouldn’t have had anything like the life experience that has gone into these songs.

“A bloke once told me if you want to write songs, keep putting pen to paper and out of 100 there might be one good one.

“Well I’ve only written eight and they’re all on the album.”

Producing his own album had long been on Phegan’s bucket list.

It’s only now with an established property and thriving family of six (AND the unwavering support of wife Caroline) that he’s had space to chase his dream.

“At this stage of my life I can afford to be a struggling muso,” Phegan laughed.

A capacity crowd welcomed the album launch at  The Kinross on November 4.

Three weeks later it debuted at number four on the ARIA charts, namely thanks to digital sales registered by distributor Checked Label.

“I didn’t have a physical distributor for the CDs so I gave Checked some units to sell and they’re now in Sanity and JB Hi-Fi – it’s gone gangbusters,” Phegan said.

The top-of-the-pops position soon followed.

As he kicked back with a couple of celebratory beers, a sentimental Phegan said he was continually humbled by the support of family and friends.

Next on the bucket list is a 1000-mile horse race across Mongolia in 2019.

“People ask me why and I say, why not?” he quipped.