With Louisiana flair, Creole Stomp rolls out a rollicking brand of Cajun sounds.
Mardi Gras season is made to order for the quintet.
“It’s our busiest time of the year,” bandleader Dennis Stroughmatt said in a recent phone interview.
Based in southern Illinois, Creole Stomp brings its Cajun-zydeco mix to Munster’s Theatre at the Center for a 7:30 p.m. Saturday show.
“That actually is Mardi Gras weekend, that Saturday night,” Stroughmatt said. “The following Tuesday is Fat Tuesday. So it’s a big time for us; it’s always a busy time, every year.”
Stroughmatt and company intend to recreate the spirit of the 2018 celebration taking place in New Orleans.
“We will definitely do ‘The Mardi Gras Song,'” said Stroughmatt, the band’s lead singer, fiddle player and accordionist.
“We’ll probably do ‘Jolie Blonde,'” said Stroughmatt, noting that the title of the Cajun classic stands for “Pretty Blonde.”
Another likely offering at the venue inside The Center for Visual and Performing Arts is “Iko Iko,” a rhythmic gumbo that ranks as a Mardi Gras standard.
Intent on being an “authentic Cajun and Creole band,” a certain language is often utilized in Creole Stomp’s repertoire.
“Most of our songs are in French; we try to stop and explain the songs,” Stroughmatt said.
“Probably between 65 and 70 percent of the songs are in French. It’s important to us because we’re a traditional band. I’m fluent in French. I’m also fluent in Creole French. Some of the zydeco tunes that we do are partially in English.”
Sometimes called “the Grateful Dead of Creole music,” Creole Stomp mixes improvisation, energy and a shot of rhythm and blues into its melodic stew of traditional Cajun and zydeco dance tunes.
“We do some swamp pop, which is kind of like R&B; we do a little bit of blues,” said Stroughmatt, a resident of Albion, Ill.
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“We do a lot of festivals in the summertime,” Creole Stomp lead guitarist Robert Russell said. “A lot of what we do is play for Cajun-zydeco dances. One thing people really like about Creole Stomp is it’s more of a mix of Cajun music and zydeco music, plus Dennis has a strong country background, so we may have a couple country tunes that we do and blues tunes.”
Creole Stomp’s array of performances have ranged from a crawfish festival in Florida to a Bastille Day celebration in Milwaukee.
Creole Stomp separates itself from zydeco groups that tend to play strictly zydeco all night long.
The Illinois band likewise differentiates itself from Cajun bands that focus solely on Cajun music.
“There’s more of a mix to what we do; we tend to please both groups,” said Russell, a resident of Carbondale, Ill.
Russell, who also does some singing, pumps out guitar chords for a band that is at home with traditional Louisiana Cajun fare.
That melodic style accommodates footwork along the lines of reels, two-steps and waltzes.
The group also is adept at Creole blues and the folk-dance flavor of mazurkas.
The Land of Lincoln band prides itself in knowing how to dish a feisty Louisiana bash.
“Most everybody in the band has worked inside Louisiana,” Stroughmatt said. “I used to live there, I used to work there, playing shows pretty much on the Gulf Coast and working with bands in Louisiana.”
The concert in Munster also offers an on-site Mardi Gras buffet that costs $30, plus tax. The menu is scheduled to include blackened tilapia, Creole shrimp, chicken gumbo, dirty rice, Cajun pasta, fried pickles and bananas Foster.
A cash bar will be available.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Creole Stomp
Where: Theatre at the Center, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Tickets: $35
Information: 219-836-3255 or TheatreAtTheCenter.com