I’d be remiss to have this week go by without paying respects to Charlie Colin, founding member and original bassist for San Francisco pop band Train. Colin played in Train from the band’s inception in 1993 up until 2003. Like many musicians his life was complicated and not without its share of hiccups. Born in Southern California in 1966, Colin was immersed in music at an early age. After high school, he went on to study at Berklee College of Music.

Invited to Singapore by some friends from college to write commercial jingles, Colin did just that. After a few years in Singapore he relocated to San Francisco along with Train founding members Jimmy Stafford (lead guitar, mandolin) and Rob Hotchkiss (rhythm guitar). The trio formed the band Apostles. Shortly after Apostles, the trio met vocalist Pat Monahan and drummer Scott Underwood and formed Train in 1993. Colin served as bassist for the band’s 1998 self-titled major label debut album, 2001’s Drops of Jupiter and 2003’s My Private Nation, earning three GRAMMY Awards during that time After the release of My Private Nation Colin was fired from the band due to substance issues.

With his time in Train behind him, he went on to tackle a myriad of projects. He formed the band Food Pill in 2003 with former Train drummer Scott Underwood and released an album called Elixir. In 2014, he served as bassist for Days of the New and in 2015 he formed a band with former Train guitarist Rob Hotchkiss called Painbirds. Two years later he co-founded the band The Side Deal with Stan Frazier of Sugar Ray and brothers Joel and Scott Owen of the PawnShop Kings. Colin spent some time in Nashville in 2019 before relocating to Brussels, Belgium to teach a music class at a Belgian conservatory.

Per news reports he slipped and fell in the shower while house-sitting for a friend in Brussels. His body was not found until after his friend had returned home from a five day trip. He was 57 years old. Colin is remembered by friends and family as a longstanding curator, art collector, homeless artist advocate and philanthropist. At the time of his death he was also the music director for the Newport Beach Film Festival.