MikelParis shares an Oberlin house's history through song

OBERLIN — As executive director of the Oberlin Heritage Center, Liz Schultz is used to telling the story of the Monroe House. She's shared the history of the home, toured people through the 1866 structure, but until now, she said no one's ever written a song about it. "If there are others, I don't know of them," Schultz said. That all changed when Michael Paris, better known as MikelParis, came to the home for his show TuneTrek. Each episode Paris shares the history of a historic place, and produces an original song about the building. The house first was home to General Giles W. Shurtleff, leader of the first African-American regiment from Ohio to serve in the civil war, and it later became the home of James Monroe, a U.S. Congressman, abolitionist and advocate for African-American voting rights. With the house's former occupants in mind, Paris said the walls and ceilings of the Monroe House told a story of equality. "We are bound to find a way, to exist in harmony," Paris said. "That's what I feel like the house sort of infuses in people when they live here." Paris came to Oberlin Thursday and Friday to film the 59th episode of his show. A member of the band OAR and a former member of STOMP, Paris has been using his diverse musical skills to show off historical buildings across the country, producing original work within the walls of the place he's singing about. "I look at these places as kind of unique recording studios," Paris said. "It's only going to sound the way it sounds in this room." Paris has been working on TuneTrek since 2012 as a unique way to educate, entertain and inspire people. Whether its a historical home, a knife factory, or a gold mine, Paris said he tries to make episodes and right songs that do just that from different places. As a touring musician, Paris said he was always finding cool historical places to visit on each tour stop. He said the longer he toured, those spontaneous finds started to slow down. TuneTrek became a way for him to start finding those places again. "I needed to find a way to motivate me to get off the tour bus and have adventures again," he said. Along with visiting new places, the show also gives him a new challenge. Paris said he got his first video camera when he was 9, and that OARS and STOMP made him a versatile musician. As someone who could do a lot of things, he said TuneTrek gave him a chance to incorporate all of those skills. "I was looking for a way to combine all the things I want to do," Paris said. "I've always liked that feeling of going to a place for the first time, especially an old place." Along with the episode, Paris wrote an original song about the Monroe House, fusing its history with its "global message" on equality. Another unique thing about the Monroe House, Paris said, is that is comes with an instrument. The Astor piano sitting in the living room of the home will be part of the episode, as Paris plays part of his song on it. Schultz said the piano was built right around 1800, and that it's the oldest thing in the home. While most of the furniture in the house isn't allowed to be touched, she said the piano was restored so that people could continue to use it. She said the piano and the music that comes out of it help keep the space alive. "We don't want these to be dead spaces," she said. "They were lived in spaces." While orchestra students and others get to play the piano when concerts are held in the home, Schultz said the piano sees mostly classical music. She said it was a stark difference to hear Paris play modern tunes on it. "It's a first," she said. "It's something we have not heard in this house." As Paris and his cameraman toured and filmed in the home, Schultz said she was interested to see what items or spaces intrigued them. She said working in the historical home, it almost becomes a regular place of work. She said having Paris film the episode here helps her and other workers not forget where they are. "You stop noticing the little things," Schultz said. "It's always nice to kind of relive your own engagement with the space you're in." Paris is still looking for a home for TuneTrek, but a few episodes have been released on PBS stations. People who are interested in seeing the show can find it at mikelparis.org Contact Sean McDonnell at 329-7148 or smcdonnell@chroniclet.com.