Catherine O’Brien is a multi-instrumental artist, singer and composer based in Sydney, Australia. From her childhood in the countryside of North East Victoria, Catherine was drawn to music, singing a feature of her personality from three years old, studying classical piano from age seven to fourteen, she went on to teach herself guitar, and took on a number of vocal and piano coaches to hone her performing skill. 

Catherine has performed at a vast array of restaurants, bars and music venues across Australia, including Manning Bar, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, residencies at Lindeman Island Resort, Pacific International in Cairns, Hotels Windsor and Regent Melbourne, Hotel Le Lagon Vanuatu, and gained a composer residency at the prestigious Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Legendary USA lyricist and vocalist Jon Hendricks had a spare apartment in New York where Catherine stayed for a month and was able to record "Moon River" with Howard Alden, Will Galison, Bill Easley and Kat Raio. 

Brenda Humble, Sydney Portia Geach award winning artist, painted a portrait of Catherine and Juanita Nielsen in tribute to Catherine's Juanita Nielsen project.

Catherine's songs have been played on numerous local and national radio, TV and  featured in her interviews with ABC Radio National, Triple J, 3LO Melbourne and Gold Coast FM, among many others. 

A car accident left her with some difficulties at the piano, that, combined with the decimation of the Australian arts scene recession in the early ‘90s, presented new and unexpected opportunities with new audiences, developing and envigorating her skills. Catherine turned to street performing, becoming an iconic figure in the streets of Kings Cross with her approachable demeanour, acoustic repertoire, sharp guitar and keyboard playing and original lyrics filled with local colour. Her 'busking' eventually afforded her the chance to follow up a personal invitation from Bob Haggart, legendary USA musician and composer,  to visit LA and New York in 1996, where she was able to gain copyright permission to add her lyrics to the Bob Haggart 1938 jazz classic “I’m Free” and "My Inspiration" (co-composed by Hilton Lamare).  Catherine recorded these together with her copyright lyrics to music composed by Australian jazz legends Bernie McGann's, Keith Hounslow, Grahame Conlon and Rosaleen O'Brien. The CD "LA or Busk" was recorded in Melbourne Seed Recording Studio thanks to Ron Tudor, with Doug de Vries on guitar and Rosaleen O'Brien on keyboard, Tim Johnston Engineer. See Reviews section. 

Beyond that, her connection with Kings Cross brought her to play at the iconic Wayside Chapel, and create music socialisation at St Vincents Sacred Heart Hospice, Gorman House Drug & Alcohol Unit, various correctional facilities and a remote Indigenous community, Kalumburu.

Currently, Catherine is still doing everything she can to create and play music devising an opera based on the life and death of missing Darlinghurst activist Juanita Nielsen and performing weekly at the Sacred Heart Hospice.  To stay connected and inspired following the COVID pandemic, you may find Catherine occasionally singing at the corner of Roslen Street and Darlinghurst Road. 

She still finds time to return to the country where she was inspired to write "Kiss the Earth Better".