Leadfinger (pronounced "Led-finger") is an Australian guitar rock band formed in Wollongong, New South Wales, in 2006 by Glasgow-born singer and guitarist Stewart "Leadfinger" Cunningham. The band has released six albums to date, with the most recent released in February 2022 through Golden Robot Records.

Leadfinger founder Stewart Cunningham has been a prominent figure in the Australian underground music scene for over 20 years. He began his career as a guitarist with the pre-grunge Wollongong band The Proton Energy Pills. In the late 1980s, he moved to Sydney, where he spent the 1990s playing in seminal underground guitar bands, including Asteroid B-612, Brother Brick, and Challenger-7. He also had a stint in Melbourne with The Yes-Men, a band formed by Sean Greenway (formerly of God and The Freeloaders). Each of these bands released critically acclaimed albums in Australia, the United States, Japan, and Europe.

Upon returning to live near his hometown of Wollongong in 2005, Cunningham began performing live as 'Leadfinger', focusing on open tuning and slide guitar-driven songs. The first three Leadfinger albums were released through Bang! Records, a Spanish Basque independent label specialising in underground Australian rock, including The Beasts of Bourbon, The Scientists, and The Drones. The band's album No Room at the Inn was later released through Australian label Citadel Records, whose legacy spans 30 years and includes many of Leadfinger's musical influences, such as Deniz Tek, Died Pretty, and the Lime Spiders.

The name 'Leadfinger' was originally a pen name for Cunningham, originating from an incident when his brother shot him with an air rifle at age 14. The lead pellet became embedded in his left index finger and required surgery for removal. Future bandmates began calling him 'Leadfinger' in jest, suggesting that the unusual injury had somehow influenced his guitar style. Cunningham has stated that the name was also chosen as an homage to Mississippi Delta blues legend Lead Belly, as his original intention was to perform solo under the name.

Cunningham continues a long tradition of Scottish Australian rock musicians and songwriters, following in the footsteps of the Young family (members of AC/DC and The Easybeats), Jimmy Barnes, Bon Scott, Colin Hay, Karl Broadie, James McCann, and others.

Leadfinger experiment with a wide variety of musical styles but are predominantly recognised for their fusion of guitar-driven high-energy rock, power pop, and 1970s punk rock, drawing comparisons to acts such as The Replacements, Radio Birdman, and The Saints. The band draws from the rich vein underground guitar music, spanning genres from the 1970s rock and punk eras to the classic works of Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan in the late 1960s and earlier.

Their instrumentation reflects a broad musical palette, incorporating electric guitars, 12- and 6-string acoustic guitars, alternate tunings, slide techniques, dynamic bass lines, driving drums, and harmony vocals. Leadfinger’s music embodies a soulful, timeless brand of rock and roll rooted in the songwriting of frontman Stewart Cunningham (singer-guitarist) and characterised by the use of vintage equipment and amplification.

Cunningham’s compositions blend lyrical craftsmanship with raw energy, paying homage to the band’s influences while maintaining a distinctive contemporary edge.