Originally from southern Illinois, Dennis Stroughmatt grew up in the shadow of the French Creoles of Vincennes, Indiana, where he was introduced to local French music. Dennis's great-grandfather Benjamin Stroughmatt was a fiddler and the first fiddle his son (Dennis's grandfather, Chancy Stroughmatt) gave to Dennis when he was 17 (apparently won in a card game around the turn of the 20th century) had belonged to Benjamin, a barn dance fiddler who lived most of his life working on the Mississippi, Wabash, Ohio, and Illinois rivers from Muscatine, Iowa, south to Memphis, Tennessee and beyond.  His family were "house boat" people, nomadic for three generations, traveling the rivers and working — anything from fishing, to mussel shelling, moonshine, cotton, and music.  Chancy was born in 1904 and lived until 1998, so Dennis spent a great deal of time with him growing up, learning about the songs his great-grandfather played. One of Dennis's great-uncles, who was a musician since the 1920s, also gave him guidance.

While attending college in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Dennis became involved with the French Creole population of the Old Mines area. He spent about three years attending weekly house parties or "bouillons," learning to speak Creole French with many Creoles in the area including Kent Beaulne and Pete Boyer, and learning to play the fiddle styles of the Missouri French. He also recorded old-timers' oral histories and uncovered scratchy wax cylinder recordings.

Wanting to learn more about American French music and culture, Dennis moved to Lafayette, Louisiana. There he worked and interned at the Vermilionville Folklife Village, where he increased his fluency in French (though more dialectically Cajun) thanks to Blanche Quebedeaux and Evelyn Goller, and spent countless hours with Cajun and Creole master fiddlers including Faren Serrette, Black Allemand, Canray Fontenot, and Merlin Fontenot.

Dennis ultimately returned to Illinois to complete a Masters of History at Southern Illinois University, and soon after, attended The University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, Canada where he was awarded a Certificate in Quebec French Language and Culture in the fall of 1999.  After returning to the United States he worked with Louisiana-based Cajun groups such as Sheryl Cormier and Cajun Sounds, The Acadian Aces, The Bayou Teche Band, and Creole groups The Ardoin Family Band, The Morris Ardoin Creole Trio, and Dexter Ardoin and the Creole Ramblers. He currently focuses most of his time and energy with L'Esprit Creole on the French Creole music and language of The Illinois Country, the old upper Louisiana colony of Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana. 

Dennis has received awards and recognition for his work in the French language from The Illinois Arts Council, The Missouri Humanities Council, The Library of Congress, The Smithsonian, The Center for Traditional Studies, and The American Association of Teachers of French. ABC News, AP News, and NPR have featured him in articles and interviews on the subject of French Creole culture and language.