"Louque Letters To Rusty Pipe"

 Greetings Rusty Pipe,

It was great to see your order come through.  I find it a great omen that your order number is 00011.  The number 11 has always carried significant meaning to me as it was Joey’s number.  

Thanks for always taking me seriously as a musician, even way back when it was only a dream and I probably came across a little odd for pursuing this path.  I honestly had no choice.  After Joey passed, I vowed to not let fear get in the way and work to find my true gifts.  It was challenging because my instincts were sending me down strange roads like acting and New York.  By the time I was getting weak and starting to doubt, your mom came down with meningitis and the nasty warrior in me reappeared.

I’m so proud to be where I’m from and I love the humility and resourcefulness of our tribe.  I spoke to my dad yesterday about locating the old St. Philamena church bell.  I’d love to erect it in the Point De Cannes and have an annual celebration for the ones we’ve lost.  We are headed on tour next month and will be stopping in Woodstock to record with my band and we are recording a song I wrote called “Under The Blood Red Sun”.  It’s all about the tragedies of Grand Point.

I hope this finds you well and on a path you love.  Life is not always easy, but now and then I look up and feel like I’m honoring the vow I made as a kid.  

Much Love,

Dut

"Louque Letters To Elwood"

 

Greetings Elwood,

I was sipping my coffee this morning when I saw the little sticker you gave me with your address on it and I decided I’d write to you.  I’m the guy in the VW van at the car wash a few days ago.  We spoke but it wasn’t small talk.  We spoke of the journey of man and race.  

You struck a chord in me when you said you wanted to move back to Africa.  I can’t say I blame you.  Though I’m a white man, I want to move to Africa too.  We spoke of the blood on America’s hands and real truths like the evil that was Columbus.  To me we lost a lot when we exterminated the life the Natives were living.  They had figured out a lot, both survival skills and spirituality.  To me, they were the baddest dudes on the planet.  On their journey to the America’s, they spent 10,000 years crossing the Bering Strait in extremely cold temperatures.  

I love that you’re part of the Houma tribe.  I’d love to keep in touch.  My number is (504)875-7216.  And you can find me and my music from my website below.  I release all music under my last name Louque.  

Kind regards,

Dustan Louque

dustanlouque.com

"Louque Letters To Mathew"

                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                                                 August 16, 2022

Greetings Matthew,

Just wanted to thank you for your purchase.  The Louque name really means a lot to me and I work hard everyday to honor the hard work those before us did.  The Louque men made a smooth transition from the farm to the factory but there was no handbook for how to become an artist.  Over the years I have somehow managed to capture the essence and stories of old Grand Point/St. James Parish in song to share with the world.  

I hope this finds you well and finding the courage to walk your own unique path.   When I printed the label and saw Jennie Rd., my heart skipped a beat.  She was so beautiful and I think of her from time to time.  I think of all the folks we’ve lost a lot actually and try even harder.  My work becomes a prayer.

Kind regards,

Dustan Louque

Letter's To Noah "Soldiers"

                                                                                                                                         February 28, 2022    

                                                                                                                                           New Orleans, La.                                           

                                                                                                                                                            

Greetings Noah,

I'm disappointed in the human race too.  Still I march on.

Kind Regards,

Dut

Letters To Logan "Under The Blood Red Sun"

                                                                                                                                              February 6, 2022

Greetings Logan, 

This morning, I came across a quote that said that one is more likely to achieve their goals by keeping them to themselves.  I thought you should hear that.  

It reminded me of the wild dreams I began to have for myself after childhood tragedies in Grand Point.  Life became precious and time……..time was so slow in old Grand Point but when Joey died, I stood on the corner and contemplated my future.  It was effing on!

Seriously, at first I expressed myself through sports and it was the familiar language in the River Parishes but then I discovered a talent for music at the ripe age of 19.  The best thing about sports was the structure and being able to define the parameters and knowing what work you had to do.  But art is a ship lost at sea and I had to figure out how to wrangle it back to some sort of shore.  I had to find my tribe and their was no guide book.  

My advice to you is to follow those things you love and stay curious and work like our ancestors in the field.  I think this summer we should go spend a few hours working in the hot field, under the blood red sun.    It’s enough to propel you to work through any kinds of coming conditions.  When it got hard in New York, all I had to do was think of those in the fields of Grand Point.  

But seriously, it’s great to have dreams.  But roll up your sleeves and do the work.  I live in fear of the little boy who made grand declarations to himself right there on Grand Point Lane.  I fear to disappoint him, so I work like hell to be enough.

Much Love,

Dut

Letters To Patti Ann (Chapter 9) "The Spirit Journey"

Dear Patti Ann,

When you briefly died, you said that it held up a mirror to the world and how it was a beautiful sight because you saw the story of life unfold and that we are all the same.  The pain of being in the human body finally made sense.  I believe we’re only seeing a few dimensions in which we live.  You saw that the vastness of spirituality goes far beyond our dimensions.  Humans are at the threshold of a new consciousness and if we can discipline ourselves to apply the new knowledge with our technology, growth will prosper exponentially.  

Love,

Dut

There are some things a song cannot say.  Some things can't be metaphorical.  Some things need to be plainly spoken.  Our language in Grand Point morphed over the years from old world French, Creole into broken English and then a hybrid of the two until now.  I believe we must be curious about the past and where we've come from or else we're doomed to repeat mistakes.  We are so caught up on our devices in the information age.  So caught up in wrong and right and appropriations.  

The world is a melting pot.  Louisiana has been one for a while.  It wasn't always pretty right there on the river and the humans made some bad choices.  When I look back on the history of man, my mouth opens wide and i can't believe what I see.  In the far reaches of my mind, I can scarcely remember when the feeling of being the innocent child who didn't know the horrors of the world or tragedy.  But time marches on and teaches you her value.  It's precious.  

No matter how great man becomes, he will never know what happens in the after life.  Never.  There's no political movement or $2 bill that will save him.  He is alone in the wilderness.  Thoreau said, "it's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see".  

After 911, I had a dream that America stood up to the world and laid down her arms and declared us evolved citizens of the earth and would not be fighting anymore.  The new Greatest Generation had arrived and the hero had no sword.  There was wisdom and understanding and the belief that we all started from the same place.  Humans started from the same region, with a handful of beings that had traits of all future mankind.  The language changed as appearances changed with each year and travel. The earth changed under our feet and our bodies responded.  Stories were told and repeated and forgotten and retold and histories rewritten and our languages morphed.  We are more the same than we'd like to admit.  Perhaps, we are like the message being passed in the classroom.  We can't stay the same and no two will be alike. 

We've adapted to the great man theory of history; the idea that through sheer will the visionary genius can transform everything.  This conception of change as a top-down process, with revolutionary ideas handed down from above, is profoundly antidemocratic.  It's the only way for an imperialist society to thrive.  Everyone must believe the tale.  The tales of heaven and order on earth.  Oh and consume greatly.


But if we are not careful and only seek happiness through pleasure, we will become a slave to the things that are outside of ourselves.  True joy only comes from within.  In stillness.  In the now.  Not in future or past.  Learn to be in the present for even the future you lust will someday be your present.  

"As you step to the front of the line in your ancestry, the energy they embodied has been passed on and is now expressing as you and those of your current generation in the lineage. As you transform, the energy of the entire lineage preceding you is transformed, for it is all happening now through you, as you. You are the one who can heal old wounds for your entire lineage, forgive old enemies, shift conditioning and beliefs, release pain that has held preceding generations captive for centuries." -Dr. Judith Rich

Saturday Morning Cartoons

 Saturday Morning Cartoons

After my friend died, I put on his sun glasses to feel the cool and I mean cool.  This guy dealt with cancer for 20 years and acted like it's just another day.  It's good to assume everyone is fighting a great war.  I don't like assumptions though.  Mostly they're negative and not healthy to carry around.  

I look like a cartoon character with these shades on, hiding behind billboards of cool.  Billboards of cool, I like that.  Sure are a lot of them these days.  It's been a whirlwind but I have settled in to my mustache.  I feel like a citizen with a purpose.  It was a raging war.  Much love on a Saturday from Louisiana.  It's sweet relief to get just taste of fall.