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Since being selected for the NBC TV show “The Voice,” Dustin Dale Gaspard’s life has been turned upside down.
Gaspard, a native of Cow Island, has done numerous interviews with local and national media. Additionally, he has taken more than 100 photos with anyone who wishes to have a photo taken with him.
Almost every night for the past two weeks, Gaspard has been playing his music in Lafayette, Kaplan, or Abbeville. On Thursday, he will give a free performance at Sounds on the Square in Abbeville.
Despite the hectic schedule, Gaspard, 33, would not change a thing. He is doing what he loves — playing Cajun music for those who enjoy it.
“The biggest way that my life has changed has been when people approach me; they feel a genuine connection,” said Gaspard. “They talk about the audition, and they tell me that when they heard I was singing in Cajun French, they said that it changed some things. They felt represented and were on stage. At first, they would say they were proud of me. Now, they are saying they are proud of us. That is really, really cool.”
Since appearing on “The Voice,” simple things like going grocery shopping in Abbeville or Kaplan are different. People recognize him and approach him, hoping for a photo or an autograph.   
“It’s really awesome. It’s beautiful to see people’s eyes light up. They feel seen through me. Just embracing them. I’m like, ‘Wow, it means so much to people. That’s all I ever wanted, to give a voice to my people here,” Gaspard said in a recent KPLC TV interview.
His music journey began in 2010, when his father purchased him his first guitar. He described his first 10 years as “trial and error.” 
Before appearing on The Voice, Gaspard spent the beginning of 2025 touring across Canada and the western United States.  In 2024, he left Louisiana and moved to Nova Scotia to live and play.
The Vermilion Parish native admits he does not enjoy playing cover songs of other popular musicians in bars and venues. He would rather play Cajun/French music to a small crowd that enjoys his music and storytelling. He purchased a van, hit the road, and played at small venues throughout the western United States, Canada and Ireland. 
In his first appearance on “The Voice,” singing a Sam Cooke song, he threw in some Cajun French words in the song, which got a 4-chair turn.  Promoting Cajun music is his priority when he performs. 
“My goal since I started has been to raise awareness of my heritage,” he said.
Gaspard’s singing is gaining national attention, and his dress style is becoming a trendsetter, too. Some locals have even compared his outfit to that of Belizaire from the 1986 local film “Belizaire, the Cajun.”
He mentioned that he derived his dressing style from various places he has played throughout the years. He was comfortable with the comparison to Beliziare.
“I have dreams of collecting a style and look. It comes with a collection of time.”
One of his iconic features is the fedora that he enjoys wearing when he performs. He purchased the hat in Memphis in 2021 and it has taken on a shape of its own, Gaspard added. 
“The hat has been with me with every show since 2021,” Gaspard explained. “I have only one hat. When I look at my hat, it is so iconic and it has so many stories. In the future I was thinking about auctioning it off, depending on what happens on ‘The Voice.’ I would be on to the next chapter.”
Gaspard mentioned that he’s unsure about what the next chapter holds for him. However, he is committed to embracing his Cajun culture and sharing it with the world.

After starting the season with four-straight losses, the Abbeville Wildcats have won two games in a row. While the defense has been consistent throughout the season, it’s the offense that’s hit its stride.
Abbeville scraped the bottom of the barrel in its week four loss to Holy Savior Menard, only totaling 76 yards passing with four interceptions and failing to score an offensive touchdown in the 15-6 home-opening loss.
Since that game, the AHS offense has been unstoppable behind the tutelage of offensive coordinator Donald Fusilier and the trio of quarterback Dazavien Maze and wide receivers Cameron Samuels and Jacolby Campbell.
The Wildcats threw for 111 yards in the 34-28 loss to Franklinton on Thursday.
“We’re actually still underachieving at this point, Fusilier said before Thursday’s game. “This offense should average 50 points per game. We haven’t showed everything yet, which is a good thing, but we’re still not satisfied.”
For Maze, whose 507 yards passing and four touchdowns with no interceptions in the two wins, catapulted him to the top of the parish leaderboard, the reason is simple.
After seven games, Maze has thrown for 1,078 yards. It has been close to 20 years since an AHS quarterback has thrown for more than 1,000 yards. Maze is on target to reach the 1,300-yard mark in 10 games.
“I just needed to get my confidence back,” Maze said. “With Coach Trev (Trevor Eaton) coming in, he helped a lot. I played for him two years ago. He told me to go out there and just be myself, and it’s working.”
Samuels has been the most consistent threat all season. But against Holy Savior Menard, he had five catches for only 35 yards. Since that game, he’s caught 15 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns.
Before Thursday’s game, he led the parish in receptions (33), receiving yards (510), and touchdowns (7).
“I just make plays whenever I get the chance,” Samuels said. “If the ball touches my hands, I have to do something with it. That’s been my mind-set all year.”
Just a sophomore, Campbell is the youngest of the trio. After catching five passes for 41 yards against Holy Savior Menard, he rebounded with 12 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown in the two wins. Those stats have him tied with Samuels for the parish-lead in receptions and he’s second to Samuels in receiving yards with 400.
“My relationship with the team has changed,” Campbell said. “I’ve bonded with the team, and we’ve built trust in the last few weeks. Trust goes a long way. It helps with everything on offense.”
Other offensive weapons are Braylon Himel (8-129-2 TD) and tight end Chayson Gray.
In week seven, they begin District 5-3A play at home against the Kaplan Pirates. All three players answered in unison when asked about the rivalry game.
“We’re bringing the Russo back to Abbeville!” they exclaimed.

BATON ROUGE - For the second consecutive year, the Kaplan Pirates defeated the Class 1A Southern Lab Kittens. The Pirates outscored Southern Lab 13-0 in the second half en route to a 27-18 win on Thursday.
With this victory, Kaplan improves to a record of 5-2, with three games remaining in the season. The Pirates will travel to Abbeville to face the Wildcats, who have a record of 2-5, in the district opener for both teams. That game is scheduled for Thursday.
Kaplan head coach John Thompson has a history with Southern Lab, having faced them in the playoffs while he was an assistant coach for Vermilion Catholic.
“Southern Lab is the kind of team that struggles to come back if you get ahead of them,” Thompson said on Friday morning. “I told the kids at halftime to go jump on them.”
At halftime, the Pirates were trailing 18-14.
Following Thompson’s halftime speech, where he expressed his frustration, the Kaplan defense did not allow any more points and intercepted Southern Lab’s quarterback twice in the second half. Javonte Mouton and Gannon Smith made crucial interceptions that contributed to this shutout.
While the KHS defense held strong, the Pirate offense was effective as well.
“I wanted to control the clock and keep our offense on the field,” Thompson added.
The Pirates rushed for 166 yards and passed for 111 yards throughout the game. Quarterback Sabe David has averaged 100 passing yards in the last five games. He completed 9 out of 13 passes for 111 yards against Southern Lab, with his longest completion being a 37-yard pass to tight end Jacob Devoltz.
Fullback DeMarion Cormier had another standout performance, following a remarkable week where he rushed for 327 yards and five touchdowns.
In this game, Cormier rushed for 145 yards on 35 carries and scored three touchdowns. In the last two games alone, he has carried the ball 76 times for a total of 472 yards and scored eight touchdowns.
Against Southern Lab, he recorded two 1-yard touchdown runs and one 3-yard touchdown run.
In the first quarter, Cassidy Roy scored on a 13-yard touchdown run, and Gannon Smith successfully converted the extra point, putting Kaplan ahead 7-6 at the 2:20 mark of the first period. Southern Lab responded with a 54-yard touchdown pass that allowed them to retake the lead, 12-7, at the start of the second period.
The Pirates quickly regrouped and marched down the field, resulting in Cormier scoring his first touchdown, followed by an extra point from Smith to give KHS a 14-12 lead. However, Southern Lab went into halftime with an 18-14 advantage.
Other Kaplan runners combined for 26 yards on eight carries, with Jayden Hargrave having four carries for nine yards.
Jeremy Roy led the receivers with three receptions for 23 yards, while Cassidy Roy had one catch for 25 yards, and Gannon Smith had two catches for six yards.

Here are photos of the Abbeville High ad VC homecoming parades this past Friday. The Abbeville High parade rolled first and then VC followed.