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Longtime local band releases excellent new album despite losing their drummer
“Oh My,” the new album from Toledo rock quintet Paris, comes with recommended instructions from lead vocalist and acoustic guitar player Alli Aras.
Don’t skip tracks
“You need to play this album in one sitting,” said Aras, a Toledo rock legend who’s been playing music in Northwest Ohio and beyond since the ‘80s. “The songs all blend together and it’s designed to be listened to as a whole.”
Aras is right. Popping in the “Oh My” CD provides a musically complex and tuneful listening experience that’s a pleasure from start to finish. The title track is a hard-driving stomper featuring Aras’ soaring rock god vocals, Todd Cotten’s amazing guitar work, and drummer Robert Davenport (who passed away too soon this past summer) keeping perfect time in the background.
There’s no filler on the eight-song album. The bluesy “Sycamore Grove,” which sounds a touch like a latter-day Rolling Stones effort, or “Save A Prayer,” (not a cover of the Duran Duran classic), a mid-tempo love song highlighting the excellent performances of keyboardist Gregg Hart and bassist Sean Ruby, are both good listening tracks.
Then there’s “Folklore,” an awesome number about Vikings. “(“Oh My”) is diverse in every way from its hard-hitting rock songs to its beautiful acoustic ballads, painting an audio landscape that you can listen to over and over and never grow tired of it,” explains Aras.
The history of the music
Paris formed in 1988, in the shadow of the Reagan years. The band took their name from an article about glam metal icons Poison, who back then were still just another Sunset Strip band. Poison used to be known as Paris, but they ditched that name, and with the band name “Paris” then up for grabs, Aras grabbed it.
Aras met drummer Bob Davenport when the latter was working at Camelot Music in the old Southwyck Mall. The pair were introduced by Fritz Adamshick, one of the main guys from Toledo’s internationally known heavy metal exports Damien. Aras and Davenport hit it off as both friends and musicians and became the core force of Paris, which proceeded to kick rock-n-roll ass all over the Midwest for three decades.
Aras spent many years moonlighting as a club manager for a variety of long gone, but still remembered venues like Roxanne’s and Club Bijou, all owned and operated by Toledo’s legendary king of nightlife Kip Diacou. Aras and guitarist Cotten also perform with popular party band Sonic Temple, which specializes in classic rock covers, and can often be found playing at the popular East Side spot The Sportsman.
Remembering Bob Davenport
While “Oh My” stands as a fantastic piece of Toledo-grown rock-n-roll, there’s a touch of melancholy in these songs as well. According to Aras, Davenport played with his Paris bandmates on every track of the “Oh My” recording sessions, despite his ever-worsening physical condition. “Bob was in weak shape, but man, he could still play,” said Aras.
“He was a trooper and he stuck it out. He played wearing an oxygen mask in the studio.”
You can’t keep a good drummer down, and Aras said “Oh My” will always be a testament to Davenport’s talent.
“We’re really proud of this album and we know Bob was proud of what we’ve achieved.”
“Oh My” can be heard on all streaming services and CDs can be purchased at Paris’ shows. For the band’s Facebook page search “Paris the band.”
