Dustin Dale Gaspard hails from the rural southern community of Cow Island, Louisiana, a landscape of mysterious rich marshland, ancient shrouding oak trees, and dream-inducing days and nights. The open pastures, whispering cane fields, and smothering earth tones offer him a creative canvas to color with the soundscape of his original music. His Atmospheric and cryptic tunes are influenced by the land that raised him. Gaspard’s simple upbringing granted a sacrosanct mindset to remain humble and grateful in all life’s endeavors, but often feeling misunderstood, he began exploring music as a safe space at 17. Having been a self taught guitarist and lyricist, much of his music is reflected by his childhood experiences, memories and dreams of his home. He was raised on vintage 50s/ 60s soul/ swamp pop, plus other traditional folk sounds from his area and an appreciation for acoustic instrumentation. Combining his love for poetry and respect for many intimate singer songwriters, his inventive musical perspective was born.
Emerging from such an underexposed area, in 2011 Gaspard had moved 50 miles north to Lafayette, the nearest prominent city in order to develop and perform as a singer-songwriter. No car, no job, and no home, he slept beneath the safety of a bridge while couch surfing, and playing for open mics and cover shows in the area. After several weeks, he settled in with newly attained friends of the local music scene and focused on booking and performing shows while working several part time jobs. He released his first solo songwriter single “Same C” in 2015 followed by “Running Like A Gun” in 2016. Neither saw much success upon debut, and were re-released on a live record during a rained out Festival International. Still it was seen as much needed progress in Gaspard’s eyes and a testament to his little time spent in Lafayette.
During the following summer of 2016, a somewhat defeated Gaspard began experiencing extreme vocal troubles. His late nights socializing, unending performance schedule and string of poor choices with substance abuse led to injured vocal chords and a call for professional attention. His lack of proper singing technique, along with his recent life actions, permanently damaged his voice leading him to stop singing and speaking for 6 weeks. The two months following his complete silence, he underwent a vulnerable continuation of vocal rehabilitation. Though not 100%, Gaspard was slowly back to performing in December of that year.
Things got better. In 2019, Gaspard became the second recipient of the South Louisiana Songwriters Festival Scholarship, which catapulted him into a realm of songwriters from all across the world. All four of his collaborative songs were chosen for the event’s showcase. With new influence and inspiration in his original genre, Gaspard began working on a full length solo record. He plans to release Hope Heaven’s Got a Kitchen in 2022. “Take Me With You,” the lead single, is a fierce love letter to the swamps of Cajun country and the people who made it home.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Most certainly there are many. I spend a heavy amount of time with vintage records of Stax soul artists from the 50s and 60s. The area I’m from in southern Louisiana shares a texture with those records and artists like Percy Sledge, Bobby Charles and many other lesser known acts. That grit and crackle is physical and unreplicable. The mindset and soul of it can be tapped into by good songwriting and conviction, which I’ve noticed with artist like Foy Vance, Ray Lamontagne, Hiss Golden Messenger, who all greatly influence me.
Does your album have an overarching theme?
Each song written and the 2 covers are all for the people that raised me: my grandparents. They raised me in rural, coastal marsh Louisiana of Vermilion Parish and I wanted to memorialize their lessons, legacy, and encapsulate the spirit of where I grew up.
Explain the title of your album.
In my part of Louisiana we are from the “Cajun” bubble or Acadiana. There is a strong emphasis on family and tradition passed through our French heritage, thus cooking is a highlighted event for everyone to gather and spend time with one another. Usually that job goes to the eldest and head of the family, your grandparents. All that said, my grandparents both loved to cook and provide for their many children and grandchildren and they loved to have us together, so I called the record Hoping Heaven Got A Kitchen because I truly hope for their sake, wherever they are, they are doing what they love: COOKING!
The single “Take Me With You” is a double-sided statement. It’s always hard to part with loved ones, especially the ones who raised you and who have taught you all you know. When I was a kid my grandfather left for trips into the undeveloped marsh where he worked, to fish, hunt and tend to the land and I always wanted him to take me with him. When my grandmother would leave for town to go grocery shopping, it was almost like a field trip and once again I’d always ask for her to take me with her.
Do you start off with the music or lyrics first? Why?
For me it starts with humble mumbling. There is a muse that dances in all our hearts and if you pay close enough attention, I think you can hear what they are dancing to, once you’ve got that squirming melody you bring it back to this world. That said, I really think the music sets the scene for lyrics. Once you’ve got the backdrop setting, your actors and actresses are just words, one liners, sayings, memories or maybe something else, who become well enough at their part to perform the art of your song.
What do you think you could do to make your music or shows more accessible to a more diverse audience?
The blessing and the burden of the South seems to be its seclusiveness, but being separate sometimes means being behind. To be more diverse here is to advocate for those marginalized, to support their beliefs and their passions and to incorporate their ideals above the outdated ones. To make my audience more diverse I jump on opportunities to perform for events supporting progressive minds in these areas. The better I become at this, the more equipped I feel to lead others in accessing a dialogue where we understand one another, and supporting all manner of people from all walks of life. If I can make people experience similar things through my music, then we already have something in common as a bit of an ice breaker.