From television to movies, Bayou Chicot native Dupré takes center stage at festival

BAYOU CHICOT – Even though he wasn’t the top winner on the recent season of The Voice, James Dupré is definitely Boggy Bayou Festival’s voice.
James will headline Saturday night, April 2, at the 2016 Boggy Bayou Festival in Pine Prairie, which he considers “his hometown festival.”
This marks James’ fourth show over the years at the festival. “This time, I will be playing my new music,” he grins. “I will play a lot of songs from my new album, “Stoned to Death,” which is set to be released in a few weeks.” On his new album, James has written seven out of the 10 songs. He recently just finished shooting the music video to his title song.
The YouTube post by James Dupré from his first album, “It’s All Happening,” was what garnered Ellen Degeneres’ attention a few years back. The host of the popular show, The Ellen Show, contacted James requesting his appearance and so it was quite the beginning of a new era.
James appeared on the show and sang for the national television audience, which marked his first nationwide audience. Not long after, he was contacted by Warner Brothers and he signed the dotted line in 2011.
It wasn’t long before the Bayou Chicot native packed up and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he still resides today. However, after four years with the record label, James asked to be released. “I just felt like I wasn’t going anywhere with them,” he explains.
The son of Tony and Roxanne Dupré of Bayou Chicot, James has since made another memorable appearance on television as he was among the top 32 singers on NBC’s The Voice.
James has an older sister, April Godwin; two brothers, Jake and Ashton, and two younger sisters, Brittany and Elizabeth. The 2002 graduate of Bayou Chicot High School attended college at UL of Monroe, where he was pursuing a degree in meteorology.
During his college years, James began to sing a little in public. He had been singing around the house and in church as a small child. “We were always around music,” he recalls his childhood. “There was always music playing or someone singing,” he adds, smiling.
After two years of college, he decided to pursue a career in music. “At this time, I had been singing with a church band in Monroe,” he notes. “I was getting more and more comfortable in front of others. Of course,” he pauses, “I had to force myself out of my comfort zone.”
Before this time, music was just a hobby for James. It was something he’d do for relaxation and fun. “It rapidly became one of the things I loved to do,” he recalls. “I soon realized I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”
After a couple of years in college, James moved to Eunice. In 2005, he attended school to become a paramedic. His dad, Tony, has been a paramedic since 1990, and he encouraged James to go into that profession.
For the next six years, James worked for Acadian Ambulance. Still living in Eunice, James and his wife divorced. They are the parents of four sons, Paul, 9; Topher, 8; Nickie, 7; and Jackson, 5.
While still working with Acadian Ambulance, James decided to upload a few videos onto YouTube on the computer “just to see what people thought.” It wasn’t long until he met Kyle Lehning, a Nashville producer. In 2007, he began taking frequent trips to Nashville to write music.
It was in 2010 that James produced his first album “It’s All Happening.”
It was another YouTube video in 2013 that caught the eye of Justin Low, whose sister is a screen-writer from Texas. “They were looking for someone to play Randy Travis’ role in the film they were producing “The Price.” “My name was suggested by Low, and I was quick to admit I had no acting experience but decided to try out for it. I got the part.”
James would spend the next few months in Dallas, Texas, on the movie set. “I’d still play my shows on the weekends,” he says, not wanting to lose any time singing.
After his acting experience, a friend suggested James audition for The Voice, a popular NBC music show. “I decided I would audition so I had to go to Chicago last February (2015). “Two or three weeks later,” James recalls, “I was standing in my parents’ kitchen when I got the call informing me I made it to the next round, the executive audition.” This entailed performing in front of producers of the show and NBC producers, recalls James. “After that round,” he adds, “I found out the same evening I had made it to another round.”
Making it to the Blind Auditions on The Voice was the first round of the show to be televised. “About 100 people made it to this round,” he notes. “Only 48 contestants make a team and I was so excited to be one of them.” James explains that over 40,000 contestants auditioned at the start of the show, and now here was this country boy from Evangeline Parish wowing the television world.
James got through to the Battle Round of the show and was eliminated in the Knock Out Round. “At this time the 40,000 was narrowed down to 32.”
Quick to admit “this experience was a blast,” James also notes it was the coolest experiences of his life. “I made so many friends, friends that I still keep in touch with today.” The singer continues, “This put the momentum back in my career.”
When asked his hopes for the future, James is quick to admit, “I want to promote my new album. I think it’s a great quality of songs and I couldn’t be happier with it.”
As any father would admit, James says there are many sacrifices with his kids. “Id love to live closer to to my boys. I’d love to move back home to Chicot, while still making music,” he says of his plans one day. “All this is so bittersweet for me,” he says. “I love music, but when I’m in Nashville, I just can’t wait to come home. It’s funny,” he smiles, “But I didn’t understand what home meant before, but now I do.”
James says he would not be successful without the help of his family and the community. “People’s support is amazing. It makes me keep going because of everyone’s support. That, to me, is the most amazing part.”
To make this year’s festival even more special, James’ younger brother, Ashton, and his band, The Last Call, will be opening for James’ show.
Ashton, like his brother and Dad, is a paramedic, working with Acadian Ambulance. The 2009 graduate of Pine Prairie High School, Ashton, started his band in August 2014. He has also played several times at the festival.
“I never played a show before until four years ago,” he explains. “I always loved to sing but I was shy,” he admits. “I got a telephone call and they asked me to play and sing at a local night club. I thought about it and agreed to give it a try,” he adds. “I only knew 10 songs, so I played those 10 songs. They liked them and asked me to keep playing, so I played the 10 songs again,” he laughs as he reminisces. “Hey,” he interjects, “They called me back to do another show.”
Ashton knows a lot more than 10 songs now as he plays throughout South Louisiana
“My brother, James, has definitely inspired me,” he says. “Another inspiration was the late Mr. Shane West. He was such a big influence and pushed me to play.”
Ashton is working on an album on an independent label and hopes for late spring/early summer release. “I wrote four of the songs,” he says. “The rest was written by my bass player.”
As far as Ashton’s goal, he too hopes that music will be his full time career one day. “That would be amazing,” he adds.
Several year’s ago, Ashton auditioned for the X Factor talent show. “I placed second out of 43 in Alexandria. The top three went on to New Orleans for another round,” he explains that there were several thousand singers in the auditioning round. “I ended up in the top 200 singers,” he says. “Don’t know if I would do it again, but I always leave my options open,” Ashton admits.
Both boys say that the country singer, the late George Jones, was always a big influence on them when they were growing up. “He was definitely an idol for us,” Ashton says. “But watching James become successful has also been so great for me,” Ashton adds seriously. “I’m so proud of him.”.
Both singers invite the public to come see them take the stage during the 32nd Annual Boggy Bayou Festival in Pine Prairie on April 2. “You’ll be glad you did.”