Nine Shots at Dawn is a sweeping narrative album rooted in the vast, sun-scorched landscapes of the American Southwest. It tells the interconnected story of a lone cowboy — a man weathered by love, betrayal, loss, and redemption — told across nine emotionally charged tracks.

From the melancholy of a love lost in “Love Plan” to the aching hope in “Redemption,” this album is a journey through broken vows, star-crossed borders, prison walls, and a father-son bond stitched together by time and memory. Every song is a chapter in a story drenched in dust, blood, and longing — backed by soaring guitars, haunting chants, steady, heartbeat-like drums, and a voice that cracks under the weight of history.

This is not just an album — it’s a legend passed down around a campfire, under the stars, where ghosts ride and hearts still burn.

Nine shots at dawn

Walked in with a hole in my chest
Whiskey prayers and a thousand regrets
Sat down where the shadows won’t talk
And let the silence pour with every shot

I swore I was done with the fight
Wounds too deep for another night
But then she lit up the corner of the room
Like a hymn rising under a blood-red moon

What kind of war is love again?
Where hearts break just to learn to bend
She looked like peace but felt like flames
Now I’m drawing lines in my own name
Is this the battle or the plan?
Am I the soldier or the man?
I don’t know how it all began
But I’m signing up for your love plan

Her eyes held more than the wine
Stories folded in the space of time
She smiled and I forgot her name
’Cause all I saw was my soul rearranged

Maybe I’m foolish, maybe I’m blind
But maybe the war ends this time
If love’s a fight I’ve lost before
Maybe she’s what I was fighting for

What kind of war is love again?
Where hearts break just to learn to bend
She looked like peace but felt like flames
Now I’m drawing lines in my own name
Is this the battle or the plan?
Am I the soldier or the man?
I don’t know how it all began
But I’m signing up for your love plan

So pour another round for the dead and the damned
I’ll raise my glass to the ones who understand
If love is war, then take my hand
Let’s lose together in this love plan

Love plan

I met her south of the Rio Grande,
Where the sunsets bleed into open land.
She spoke in songs I couldn’t translate,
But I knew her smile was worth the wait.

Her dress was red like desert clay,
Her laugh could chase the ghosts away.
I didn’t know much, but I knew this:
I’d fight the world just for her kiss.

Oh, my Mexican girl,
We danced through two different worlds.
We built a bridge made out of dreams,
But the river tore through all our seams.
Love don’t ask for where you’re from…
But sometimes fate just won’t play along.

Her father said I was just a phase,
A cowboy heart that wouldn’t stay.
I learned her words, I prayed her prayers,
I swore I’d follow her anywhere.

But culture cuts like rusted wire,
And time can drown the hottest fire.
She stayed behind, I rode ahead…
Still hear her voice inside my head.

Oh, my Mexican girl,
We danced through two different worlds.
We built a bridge made out of dreams,
But the river tore through all our seams.
Love don’t ask for where you’re from…
But sometimes fate just won’t play along.

I still wear that woven thread she tied,
On my wrist, where the past can’t hide…
She never spoke my language clear —
But somehow, her heart was always near.

Oh, my Mexican girl,
I’d give it all to change the world.
But oceans rise and families pull,
And love alone can’t fill what’s full.
I loved her more than I could say…
But some hearts ain’t meant to stay.

Mi amor… adiós…

Mexican girl

Heard the name in a stranger’s song,
Some said he was here, then gone.
Built of fire and second chances,
Left behind a trail of dances.

They say he smiled through aching bones,
Gave his light, though he walked alone.
Never asked for much, just peace,
But gave his blood so we’d be free.

He held the world with shattered hands,
Built his strength from sinking sand…

Joshua… they still whisper your name,
Like a legend caught in the pouring rain.
You gave it all, though you were barely whole,
Carried the lost, burned through your soul.
And I don’t know if you ever found home…
But damn, you never walked alone.

He loved like thunder, broke like glass,
Hid his pain behind a laugh.
Took the blows and wore the blame,
Never once forgot a name.

He’d pour his drink for the quiet ones,
Tell the moon about battles won.
But no one saw him bleed at night,
When no one watched, he’d lose the fight.

He held the world with shattered hands,
Built his strength from sinking sand…

Joshua… they still whisper your name,
Like a legend caught in the pouring rain.
You gave it all, though you were barely whole,
Carried the lost, burned through your soul.
And I don’t know if you ever found home…
But damn, you never walked alone.

There’s a man in the mirror sometimes,
Wearing your smile, your crooked lines.
And I wonder if you’re looking through —
Or maybe, you’re still walking too…

Joshua… they still whisper your name,
Through these towns, through loss and flame.
You gave your love, though your heart was torn,
A gentle storm, forever worn…

Joshua

Out here where the silence breathes,
I walk the line that time forgot.
Every step is a ghost I leave,
And every shadow ties a knot.

There’s a star for every name I lost,
A fire for every hand I held.
And when I lift my eyes above,
I see the life I never tell…

I look upon the stars,
And they burn just like my scars.
Every one’s a piece of me,
A memory that won’t set free.
I speak to them at night —
My silence, my truth, my fight.
In that sky, I see it all…
Love, and rise, and fall.

Her eyes still haunt the northern light,
My brother’s laugh, the southern breeze.
My mother’s prayers in velvet skies,
My dog still runs in midnight dreams.

There’s a star for every name I lost,
A fire for every hand I held.
And when I lift my eyes above,
I see the life I never tell…

I look upon the stars,
And they burn just like my scars.
Every one’s a piece of me,
A memory that won’t set free.
I speak to them at night —
My silence, my truth, my fight.
In that sky, I see it all…
Love, and rise, and fall.

One by one, they light the dark…
Names I forgot, but not the mark.
And maybe someday they’ll see me too —
The lone soul who once walked through…

I look upon the stars,
And they burn just like my scars.
Every one’s a piece of me…
Floating in that endless sea.

Look upon the stars

The suit don’t fit, the tie feels tight,
Boots echo loud in the holy light.
I can feel their eyes, they burn like shame,
My smile’s gone numb but I whisper your name.

The preacher speaks, but it all fades out,
Like static screams in a thundercloud.
I shake, but I stand, I bleed, but I breathe —
God above, why’d she lie to me?

My hands still shake from the vows I wrote,
But now they feel like a goddamn joke…

Empty ring — left at the altar light,
Broken truth in a dress of white.
Kissed by fire, betrayed by grace,
She walked away with her war-painted face.
I gave her my name, my blood, my spine…
And she left it all behind.

Her perfume still floats in the chapel air,
Like roses bloomed from a curse I wear.
My mama’s crying, my brother turns his face,
And I’m frozen still in my disgrace.

The ring box open, like a mouth that screams,
A circle of gold with hollow dreams.
She said “forever” in the darkest tone…
Then turned that promise into stone.

I prayed for love, I got a ghost…
In front of God, she hurt me most.

Empty ring — left at the altar light,
Broken truth in a dress of white.
Kissed by fire, betrayed by grace,
She walked away with her war-painted face.
I gave her my name, my blood, my spine…
And she left it all behind.

Empty ring — and a silent crowd,
I screamed inside but not out loud.
She was the light that turned to smoke,
My altar cracked, my future broke.
And I don’t know what love still means…
When all that’s left…
Is an empty ring.

Love plan

J. Ash Dusk