“You sound great!”   -Pat Donahue, A Prairie Home Companion

There are two distinct sides to Colin’s musical coin. On one side there’s a heart, and the other, soul. In a single performance Colin dances dazzling foot percussion while playing his heart out on fiddle and banjo... Then, taking a seat, he plays some of the most beautiful, soulful guitar music this side of mars. It’s as though someone introduced John Hartford to John Fahey.
 Colin’s musicality began taking shape in the fourth grade when he failed the co-ordination test in his snare drum audition for the school band. The wise instructor Jack Horner decided to give Colin sticks nevertheless…This unleashed Colin’s rise to become a full blown high-school rock star, in his school, anyway. Always questing and rarely resting, Colin’s interest turned to the guitar.
So, O’Brien left his native Michigan for Seattle, Washington where he studied Classical guitar at Cornish College of the Arts. After just one year of study (intense study!) he was awarded 2nd place in the prestigious Seattle Classic Guitar Society competition. To the possible chagrin of the awards committee, Colin spent his award certificate on a huge pile of American Finger-style Guitar books and recordings. Colin then moved to Milwaukee in 1993 to study guitar at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. He’s on the faculty there now teaching Banjo, Guitar and Fiddle, has been since 2000.  
In 1997 O’Brien released his debut recording Pressure in the West co-produced by Willy Porter. It received great reviews from both the local press and international publications such as Billboard Magazine and was featured on NPR’s World Cafe. Right about 1999 O’Brien was bitten by the “Banjo Bug” and proceeded, (with characteristic intensity) to delve into Bluegrass and Celtic styles of Banjo playing. This led Colin to form Salt Creek, an extraordinary ensemble featuring some of Wisconsin's’ finest musicians. Salt Creek was honored as “Best Bluegrass Band” in Wisconsin by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) in 2004, ’05 and ’06. Currently Colin performs his solo show throughout the U.S.A. He has just released “Dancing by the River” which captures his enormous instrumental range and songwriting in full swing. He’s currently recording and all instrumental guitar record, Inside These Guitars, to be released May 30th. Colin has published two banjo instructional books for Hal Leonard. His Banjo instructional DVD will be available everywhere in spring 2010. Colin O’Brien wants to play for YOU!