Play that Hot Fiddle! Old Time Radio and the Life of Southern Illinois Swing Fiddle “Pappy” Wade Ray
Born in 1916, this child prodigy fiddler and singer developed into one of the most endearing entertainers in country and western swing music. Through the medium of radio on shows such as “The Pappy Cheshire Show” in St. Louis and the “National Barn Dance” in Chicago, Wade Ray gained national prestige along side performers such as Patsy Montana and Rex Allen. Presenting the fast swing fiddling and humorous stories of his mentor Wade Ray, Dennis Stroughmatt will lead audiences through the early years of Old Time Radio and share how music brought America through The Great Depression, WWII, and beyond.
Dennis Stroughmatt, born and raised in southeastern Illinois, is an authority on French Creole music and the culture of "Upper Louisiana," a.k.a Illinois and Missouri. First introduced to local French history as a teenager in Indiana, Dennis later moved to southeast Missouri and spent over three years studying and learning to speak Illinois French Creole, to play the fiddle, and to sing many of the traditional songs that have permeated the region for over three hundred years. He would also go on to live, work, and play music in the "Cajun country" of Louisiana and study in Quebec, thus completing the circle of French culture in North America.
Watch video of Dennis Stroughmatt performing "The Boyer Stomp."
