The Obiligations "Don't Go There"

How to avoid an angry mob of bagpipers from assembling outside your door . . .


Having a musician in the family provides some fun insights into the creative process, and the business process of the creative process, too.

My brother-in-law James spent much of his 20s playing in bands around Boston. But the pressures of adulthood and marriage and family and work led to that road many once-responsibility-free musicians have to take. He shelved his music career.

And so did his bandmates. All of them grew up, had families, moved to various spots around the country.

But here in 2009, in the digital age, those hurdles aren’t as big as they used to be. Starting a couple of years ago, James and his geographically scattered musical mates, started making music again. They shuttled tapes and files from Cape Cod to Phoenix to Philadelpia, building out demos one step at a time. And this summer, they were able to take a week, book a studio, and bang out the debut album by their new band, The Obligations.

Back last Spring, James was spending a weekend afternoon working up another demo song, in his bedroom in Brewster. Living on 6A, there is certainly a lot of traffic noise on an average day. But on this particular day, during Brewster In Bloom, there was a noisy parade winding its way past the house. So James stuck a microphone out the window, to catch some of the bagpipe players as they marched by.

Fast-forward a couple of months, as The Obligations are putting together the tracks. James suggests putting the scrap of bagpipe sound as an outro to the song “Don’t Go There.”

Fast-forward again, as The Obligations drop off their ready-to-be-mastered disc at the plant where the CDs and artwork will be generated. The engineer mastering the album asks, “Now you have clearance from the bagpipe band, and for the song their playing, right? Because I don’t want you to pay for a few thousand copies, only to find out that you don’t have the rights.”

Yes, you don’t want to have a bunch of P.O.ed Scots, their kilts in a twist, at your door looking for their Mechanicals.

So James visited with, and got clearance from, The Highland Light Scottish Pipe Band, and this track is good to go.

Hear a sample of “Don’t Go There” here.

And a sample of the Pipe Band sample here.

Buy the CD here.

And as a PS, check out the band’s website, featuring lots of graphic art created by none other than Mrs. Finn, who has also started her own design business, called Peekaloo Art & Design.