SPH Presents: Concerts in the Chapel with Wes Collins and Andrew Delaney
Doors 6:30pm, Show 7:30pm
As you read the information about these entertainers below, I expect your first response to be along the lines of “That’s too interesting – I can’t miss that!” And you’d be correct – I expect a truly entertaining evening of music and wit. There will be a full bar available for your enjoyment.
“You may need to dig deep to uncover a talent once buried in library stacks, but it’s evident that the lyric 'You’re the only ones that get me' will not apply to Collins’ career much longer.”
At age 44, Wes Collins and his wife Anita made a pact to become writers: she started writing fiction and Wes penned his first song. A few years later, they were both multi-award-winners in their fields. Collins more than makes up for lost time with songs that dig deep and go to uncertain, sometimes scary places. Come for a haunting melody and some intricate fingerpicking and stay for the wit and deep literary intelligence. There is always more to find in a Wes Collins song.
Wes has played shows from coast to coast. He is a winner of the prestigious Grassy Hills New Folk Competition and a North Carolina Arts Council Songwriting Fellowship, and has been featured as a finalist in The Telluride Troubadour Contest in Telluride, CO; The Songwriter's Serenade Competition in Moravia, TX; and The Wildflower Performing Songwriter Contest in Dallas, TX.
Wes recorded his third album Jabberwockies at Chris Rosser's Hollow Reed Arts Studio in Asheville, North Carolina, with special contributions by Ordinary Elephant and Jaimee Harris. Advance reviews for Jabberwockies are very positive and the album looks poised to surpass the success of his popular second album Welcome to the Ether.
Andrew Delaney of Arlington, TX is an unorthodox singer/songwriter and storyteller who steadfastly refuses to pretend he is not writing this bio himself in the third person. Born to a Chinese American family, Andrew grew up as a suburban goth kid and his songs are informed as much by the lyrics-as-literature styles of Tom Waits and James McMurtry as they are by the camp and audacity of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Legendary folk DJ Rich Warren of WFMT Radio Chicago once called him “The Alfred Hitchcock of singer/songwriters”.
Over the years Andrew has garnered numerous accolades for his writing, including grand prize wins at both the Songwriter Serenade competition in Moravia, TX and the Acorn Theater Singer/Songwriter Competition in Three Oaks, MI. He was a three-time finalist in the prestigious Grassy Hills New Folk Competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival, a top three finisher in the Rocky Mountain Song Contest, an Emerging Artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and received Best Songwriter honors at the Dallas/Ft Worth “Ghosty” awards. He was also an Official Selection at the H.P Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, OR, where he showcased his self-directed short horror film / music video “Howard”. Delaney has spent time on stage as a stand-up comic as well as five years teaching songwriting at The University of Texas at Arlington.
Andrew’s newest album, “Animals! On The Moon!” is the story of a neurotic curmudgeon finding contentment in marriage and family. It is wry and playful, utilizing gritty samples and synthesizers alongside Delaney’s distinctive narrative songwriting. “Animals! On The Moon!” is also, in part, a celebration of the ways we used to listen to music. In keeping with this, Andrew has elected not to release the album via streaming platforms and instead to market it face to face and hand to hand on vinyl. Please buy one. He has children.