Creole Stomp brings French music tradition to SIC Saturday
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp brings audiences the sounds many associate with Mardi Gras and New Orleans Jazz Fest, a partying dance band blending the accordion and fiddle with elements of jazz and the blues.
French speaking crowds may take something deeper from the band's concerts.
The crowd at Southeastern Illinois College will decide for themselves what to make of the band 7 p.m. Saturday on the stage of the George T. Dennis Visual and Performing Arts Center. Legence Bank is underwriting the concert that is part of the college's Cultural Arts Series.
Dennis Stroughmatt, singer, fiddler and accordion player understands English speaking audiences connect with the up tempo rhythms of the jigs and the waltzes, but the tales told in the lyrics are not always of people celebrating.
"The music itself is usually very lively, fast-paced and based around an intricate fiddle style. But whether it's local French or Louisiana, all French music, even Canadian, some of the themes they talk about, they are things that are emotionally depressing," Stroughmatt said.
French audiences may dance and thrill to the music and then approach Stroughmatt later to ask about the death of someone told about in one of the songs.
Though murder ballads have a place in a Creole band's repertoire, so does optimism.
"Some are party songs, some are talking about drink and food is often the subject matter. A lot of songs have religious overtones. The church has a lot of power in French families and their social gatherings and dance tunes have religious overtones," Stroughmatt said.
Stroughmatt is no stranger to the traditional French dance parties, or bouillons, literally "chicken soup" parties.
He grew up in a French part of Illinois near Vincennes, Ind., and though there were historical events and balls commemorating the French heritage, he lamented there were almost no French speakers.
Studying at Southeastern Missouri University his professor said he had learned of a French community less than an hour from St. Genevieve, Mo., called Old Mines, Mo., where the residents still spoke French and celebrated Creole music and food.
Though Old Mines, Mo., residents retain their traditions dating back to the 1720s, they are no longer removed from modern society.
Stroughmatt decided to visit the community and simply began asking people at the first gas station he came to if they spoke French. Stroughmatt suffered some strange expressions until his wandering took him to the parish workers.
"I told them I was a student and was looking for French people. The workers told me to have a seat and they could answer my questions, but 'If you want to know who we are you've got to come to our parties.' Bouillon parties," Stroughmatt said.
He did go to the bouillons and found as long as he went with the flow and had a good time he was learning. Over a span of weekend visits, after two years he was both an accomplished French speaker and fiddler.
Since his college days Stroughmatt also spent quite a bit of time in French-speaking communities in Louisiana and learned the southern Creole traditions and music which has the Caribbean, blues and jazz influence.
Stroughmatt now performs in two bands. L'Esprit Creole performs the more traditional Indiana and Missouri Creole music. Audiences may hear a Canadian, Nova Scotian and bluegrass influence. Creole Stomp is of the southern Creole which may include Cajun, zydeco and swamp pop.
Stroughmatt formed Creole Stomp in 2002 and his bandmates are Jon Watson on drums, Rob Krumm on bass and Robert Russell on electric guitar.
The band became a part of the Illinois Arts Council Artist Tour and Illinois Arts Council sponsor Shirley Madigan -- wife of Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Madigan -- in 2002 arranged for the troupe of a dozen or more bands to perform at the inauguration of newly elected Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Stroughmatt would not have guessed that appearance would garner the band fame in the Chicago area.
"There were 12 or 15 bands to play in stages. The event was four or five hours long. We were live on television on WGN in Chicago," Stroughmatt said.
The word came to the band Blagojevich was going to be 20 minutes late and organizers asked the band to continue playing. About 15 minutes later the band learned the governor was again to be 20 minutes late and they were asked to play even longer.
"The television kept coming back with us live at WGN. Eventually we did almost an hour and a half live on TV," Stroughmatt said.
"We ended up getting a lot of bookings from that."
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DeNeal receives e-mail at mailto:bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>
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