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.
What’s impressive about these dozen tracks is how well Gaspard implemented his vision with mind-blowing detail packed in each one. (Even the disc’s surface is a nod to grandmother Emily with its image of her faded green linoleum floor.) It wasn’t a situation where he depended on his various session musicians like Viator, pianist/organist Eric Adcock or steel guitarist Lyle Begnaud for guidance or collaboration. Instead, he entered the studio with “ninety-five percent of the house already built,” knowing where each musician would fit in with an artistic license to create inside that space.
Within seconds of the lush opener, “Take Me With You,” you immediately sense something big is in store. As Gaspard strums an acoustic guitar and sings in a lonesome tenor voice, Begnaud launches atmospheric steel guitar tones, and Adcock plays drifty, tinkly lines. Midway through, chanteuse Sarah Russo leads a resounding choir of female vocalists trading call-and-response with Gaspard.
Like “Take Me With You,” “Best Friends” is a tale of how many of his cousins are best friends, and sports a ’70s country-rock vibe. While that’s something Gaspard could have ridden for the disc’s duration, he’s more about surprising his listeners with the occasional knuckleball. “Good Lookin’ George Berton” rocks out with Viator’s mangy raw, vintage-sounding guitar playing and Adcock’s offsetting Wurlitzer over a layer of ethereal background vocals. The proceedings reach their wall-rattling apex on the epic title track as Gaspard testifies passionately with a Pentecostal fervor.
When juxtaposing moods and emotions, Gaspard’s a master. “Further I Walk” swells with breathtaking sentiment while “Let’s Meet Again” pauses intermittently to emphasize the idea of reuniting with his grandparents in the afterlife.
Even the two covers, “Feed the Flame,” the Percy Sledge-Van Broussard transformed swamp pop classic, and Dale & Grace’s top twenty hit “This Should Go On Forever” are linked to his grandparents’ musical tastes. While “Flame” has a glorious gospel bent, “Forever” couldn’t be dreamier and more sincere. It’s one of the rare releases where each listen brings something new to savor in its mighty wake, sometimes leading to the question: How can something so masterfully accomplished be a debut CD?
