Kurt Baker Returns to His Pop-Punk Roots with "Delusional"

Kurt Baker returns with "Delusional," a new song that reflects on his early days of songwriting while grappling with a surprisingly universal question, is it really worth chasing your passion? Baker wrote the track, and Wyatt Funderburk produced it, who also played guitar, with Rich Kelly III on drums and Geoff Palmer on guitar.

The concept for "Delusional" began with returning to the mindset of Baker's early pop-punk days and his time writing songs for The Leftovers. The track has a spontaneous origin, about the doubts that can surface when you choose to live a creative life.

"Delusional" draws from bands Baker listened to as a young pop-punk fan, like Descendents, Screeching Weasel, and Green Day. Those influences connect "Delusional" directly to the tradition that helped shape Baker's musical identity, while also giving the song a direct line to his earliest creative impulses.

Players on the Nashville recording also help bring that influence into the finished track. With Funderburk producing and playing guitar with Kelly and Palmer, it feels like a song about Baker rediscovering an earlier version of himself. "Delusional" makes a common creative insecurity its main theme, and turns the doubts that come with pursuing music into another reason to keep picking up the guitar.