Music runs deep on both sides of Valerie O'Brien's family. Both of her grandfathers were fiddle players as well as a great grandfather, and Valerie remembers her grandfather Ryals sitting with her at the kitchen table going over the old tunes one note at a time. Valerie's love for the fiddle was sparked at the early age of three when she discovered her mom's fiddle under the bed. Before long, she, her sister, and brother were all playing.
Valerie started violin lessons at age nine, learned her first Texas-style fiddle tunes by eleven, and won the Junior World Championship at thirteen. Like everyone in her family, she became an accomplished musician on several instruments. At her first contest in Alvarado, Texas, Valerie got to hear two great Texas fiddle legends, Norman Solomon and Johnny Gimble, twin fiddle "Maiden's Prayer."
Another time, Valerie's parents took her to the Seminary South Shopping Center in Fort Worth to hear Eck Robertson who is credited with making the first country music recording back in 1923. Later, Valerie was able to study with such masters as Benny Thomasson, Bryant Houston, Texas Shorty, Sleepy Johnson, Major Franklin, and Vernon and Norman Solomon.
Valerie has been two-time winner of the "Texas Ladies Fiddle Championship", "World Series Winner","World Series Winner Twin Fiddling", Recipient of Texas Folklife Resources Master Artist Grant, Master Instructor with Texas Folklife Resources, Educator for Texas Commission on the Arts, and has 21 years experience in teaching the Suzuki Method. Steeped in the tradition of Texas Old-Time Fiddling,Valerie is committed to passing it down to a new generation by giving lectures and performances, by making television appearances and recordings, and by teaching. That tradition lives on at Valerie's Music Studio in Burleson, Texas, where her two daughters, Jennifer and Julie, and her sister Lydia also teach. Besides her professionalism, Valerie is the sweetest spirited person you would ever want to meet.