Les Contes De Galerie (Stories on the Porch) Dustin Gaspard

1111 Saint John Street,Lafayette LA 70501

07 January, 2023

Description

"Food is one part of the experience. And it has to be somewhere between 50 to 60 percent of the dining experience. But the rest counts as well: The mood, the atmosphere, the music, the feeling, the design, the harmony between what you have on the plate and what surrounds the plate. - Author: Alain Ducasse" Join us for a special night as we close out our first year of Les Contes de Galerie (Stories on the Porch) with special guest, DUSTIN GASPARD, on Saturday, January 7th. It seems like the best songwriters are able to write about their lives, directly or indirectly, and Dustin seems to be on that path as one of the best young writers in South Louisiana . Offbeat Magazine has this to say about Dustin: "Dustin Dale Gaspard, under various configurations, is no stranger to Lafayette’s robust roots-centric music scene. The funky soul sextet DG & The Freetown Sound comes to mind. But for his full-length debut, Gaspard was gunning for something in the folk/singer-songwriter vein to showcase his piercing originals. He was on that path with producer and Hub City All Stars guitarist Chad Viator until grandfather George Berton Lege and grandmother Emily Gaspard (different sides of the family) passed away during the quarantine. At that point, he shifted gears to pay homage to both." Saturday Dustin Gaspard will play a few songs, talk about his songs, share his relationships with them and share stories of his favorite childhood food memories which Chefs C.J Pothier and Greg Walls will recreate (price includes food). It's a night not to be missed! Doors open @ 6:00 PM. Show starts @ 6:45 PM( ish) Dustin Gaspard BIO The Full Story: 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 nights/ days. 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 and 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. Searching for new inspiration he decided to step back as a pure folk singer songwriter. In 2017 He began high energy Rockn Soul/ Funky Soul 5 piece band (bass,drums,sax,guitar,vocals) DG & the Freetown Sound in order to perform larger, rowdier venues throughout the south and continue an expanding role as a songwriter. It was a step in a different direction from intimate folk songwriter shows, exposing a new catalog of artists and performers, and allowing for a larger radius of networking for all of his music. In 2018 the Freetown Sound’s soul pop anthem “Shoulders” was released with a 10 piece choir and newly produced big band rockn roll sound. The following year would show great momentum for the project and included several festival performances and the release of their five song debut EP Microphone Inheritance pt. 1. Meanwhile, January 2019, Dustin decided to write, track, produce, perform and release his official debut demo “Porcelain Prayer Tapes” which were a collection of personal acoustic songs, written periodically on during downtime from the band. Late Spring 2019 also saw Gaspard become 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 gained support from fellow Irish songwriter Brian Deady (Lucifer Season 3: “Get On My Knees”), who he opened for during a short tour in Ireland November/ December 2019. Simultaneously Gaspard released two new singles “Porcelain Dreams” (the lead up to full length record “The Reader the Lover”) and “Orchestral Heart” (“In Callow Comfort” EP January 2020) the latter written during his time in Ireland. Upon his return, DG & the Freetown Sound saw their second largest performance of the year opening for regionally famous recording artist Marc Broussard and a crowd of 1000+ at Rock n Bowl Lafayette. Looking briefly to the future Gaspard intends on having several studio releases including DG & the Freetown Sounds “Microphone Inheritance pt. 2” and solo EP “In Callow Comfort”, both nearing their completion currently. New Orleans’ Folk Alliance International hosts Dustin Dale Gaspard during The Blackpot/ Lafayette Louisiana showcase in January 2020. Check out a live performance by Dustin Gaspard live @ Magic Bus Studios