Written by James Killen

Andrew Delaney and Nicolette Good have been making the rounds lately teaming up for a little double singer songwriter action. A few weeks ago, they did a song swap at The Americana and this Saturday evening Nicolette opened the show at the Hops House with Andrew wrapping up in the end. The two of them have written several songs together and seem to complement each other’s talent so well.

Nicolette was born in Houston, spent some time in San Antonio, was a winner in the 2012 Kerrville songwriter competition, starred in the docu-reality show, Troubador, Tx and has recently returned to the Houston area. Her set included a number of songs from her latest release, “Little Boat on a Wave”, as well as some from her previous recordings. The set included “Union Jack”, “Winter’s Song”, “Revery”, “Amarillo KOA”, “Caroline”, “Aloha”, “Alone with the Radio”, and “Pretty Clementine” before closing out with the title track to “Little Boat on a Wave”. Nicolette’s beautiful voice and her very eclectic choice of subject matter made the set quite engaging.

During the intermission, I scanned the room to see Crystal and Pete from Ordinary Elephant and Ken Gaines had made the trek out to see these two perform on the Hops House’s cozy stage. It’s really great to see the local music community in Houston out supporting each other.

Andrew Delaney took the stage to perform his unique combination of songs and stories…. and songs that are stories. This evening he drew heavily from “Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted” as well as his latest “The Escape Artist”. Andrew’s voice is rather unique and intriguing. His song titles like “Rats and Sinking Ships” exhibit his ability to see the world from a bit of a different perspective.

This evening’s set included a couple of songs, “Groove On” and “Elephants”, that were written as dating advice for his teenage daughter. He included “She Trusts Me”, about being in a relationship with a roller derby queen (the line goes “She trusts me as far as she can throw me, but she can throw me pretty far”). Delaney claims to play something that he calls Geek Folk, using “I’m Sorry I Just Don’t Like Star Wars” as a prime example.

Delaney’s talent also touches on straight up country with “Wine and Roses”. He doesn’t shy away from controversial subjects as he anticipates death on “Australia” (a co-write with Nicolette Good that has also been covered by Ordinary Elephant) and prejudice and homophobia with “Not in My House”. The stories that were interspersed between songs exhibit a sly sense of humor and truly round out an Andrew Delaney show.

Both artists took full advantage of the excellent house sound system and put forth a most enjoyable evening of music. This is the second time that I have seen these two pair up for a performance and I must suggest either or both of them on a bill as a must see if you have the chance.