DENVER, COLO. (06/26/08) -- French Creole fiddler and accordionist Dennis Stroughmatt and his band, L'Esprit Creole, brings the excitement and "joie de vivre" of Louisiana Creole, Cajun, and zydeco music to the Swallow Hill stage for the enjoyment of audiences of all ages on Saturday, July 19 at 8 p.m.

The sound of L'Esprit Creole is an ever-evolving gumbo. Traditional Louisiana Cajun two-steps, reels, and waltzes sizzle in the stew along with Creole blues, mazurkas, and zydecos. Each concert includes some explanation of Cajun and Creole culture as well as some bilingual translation and history of the songs that are performed. The vocals are in authentic Louisiana French, and audiences are invited to get up and dance—or—dared to sit still. The band's unique sound and mix of ancient and modern Mississippi River valley musical tradition positions them as the only band to encompass French Creole and folk music from the entirety of the old Louisiana Territory.

Stroughmatt's journey into the roots of Creole music and culture began during his teenage years in the small community of Old Mines, Mo. It was there that he spent two and a half intensive years recording, observing and learning many of the Creole French traditions still alive in "Upper Louisiana."  The knowledge that he gained there included a centuries-old French Creole fiddling style from fiddlers Roy Boyer and Charlie Pashia, fluency in Illinois-Missouri Creole French, and a wealth of stories and songs from storytellers and singers like Rose Pratte, Annie Pashia, Kent Beaulne, and Eli Robart, all of which have been handed down generation to generation in Missouri and Illinois for nearly 300 years.

From there, he went on to live and work in southwest Louisiana as an assistant curator at the Vermilionville Folklife Center in Lafayette, where he also became fluent in "Lower Louisiana" Creole music and Cajun/Creole French. There he encountered fiddlers Canray Fontenot, Faren Serrette and Black Allemand and quickly grasped old-style Cajun and African Creole fiddling with fervor.