Program Notes

Simply put, I wrote Shot In The Dark because I was sick of love songs.   I was tired of heart-wrenching, over-romanticized prose, and tired of the cool cultivation of emotional tension being expertly built up and stretched out, built up and stretched out, built up and stretched out.   It was all too perfect, too ideal.  

I wanted something current, something unapologetically flawed and dirty.   I wanted to transcribe late night drunk dials, and set their rants to music.   I wanted something real.

In the back of the Austin Chronicle, after the music listings and just past the XXX services pages are the personal ads, which includes a section called Shot In The Dark.   It's a small, half page of missed connections: people who forgot to exchange numbers or were too shy to introduce themselves in the first place.   This is their last ditch effort to reconnect with the one that got away.   It turns out there are a lot of really weird people in this town, but I found it incredibly refreshing to read something so straightforward, unmitigated, and honest. These were the contemporary, gritty and real stories I was after.   I cut out the best of the best, and, using only the words of the anonymous Austinite's who wrote them, set their text to music.   This is that music.

Text

Comprised entirely of personal ads from the Austin Chronicle

I. Me:

Me.

You.

Bike courier, short blonde hair, wearing sunglasses, always waiting for that phone call. Me: the curly one. Are you really hot, or...just ugly?

Caught my eye as you were asking me for directions. Your lustful eyes almost made me drop my hippie food. You: soccer lovin' greasy mechanic. Me: luscious Hawaiian in need of a tune-up.

You: tall, blue-eyed, bespectacled private school music teacher. Me: there for answer your questions, directed you to Music Building. Single? Interested?...Let's make music!

II. Thin Blue

You: thin blue jacket wearing mysterious stranger on Valentines night. You were working on Congress but not as a hooker.

III. Wo/Man:

Me: Man You: Man

Me: Woman You: Man

Me: Woman You: Woman

Me: Man You: Woman

IV. Shot in the Dark

Met you at the Barton Creek Saloon...you, beautiful girl workin' for radio station...me, the crazy stoned city creep...

I was the idiot in the purple hoodie. You were the freak in the dress (happy birthday?) talking about your jawbreaker tattoo. Marry me.

Handsome man you tried to help me get a box down but I wouldn't let you. Now I am pregnant with your baby...

V. You:

You