About who we are

The non-profit Pass the Salt was started by musicians and brothers Zac and Rob Schmidt or The CO Brothers.

The Co Brothers

Is it Co as in Colorado Brothers or Co as in Cooperative Brothers? Pick the one that suits because they’re both true and both welcome. We are Robert and Zachary Schmidt, who have had through the years a very unorthodox journey with music that has found us playing in some strange places and in many different countries (Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, France, India, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Germany, Czech Republic, Romania, Austria, Italy, Norway, Chili, USA, and probably a couple more), a journey of many adventures, wide and varied, that has provoked and still provokes a great struggle but also a great love. Both of these words, “struggle” and “love”, could be the two best words for the Co Brothers because they are what compel our music.

Years ago we took a journey to Nashville to look into the possibility of “going for it”. There were a few meetings with producers, song writers, sound techs and what emerged into view from lurking in the background was the great soul-less machinery of the music industry that grinds on behind the veil of popular music. It was a good journey and it provided the answer that this wasn’t the path forward. But despite the knowledge that the music business wasn’t for us both of us kept on playing music, writing songs and producing albums, sometimes together and sometimes apart. And now after many years we are still playing together but now there is a big history behind us, and our music has become something solid, something that has been realized that doesn’t need and doesn’t seek anybody’s approval, that isn’t looking for fortune and fame, but journeys onward out of the simple joy of playing music and what that brings with it, connecting with new places and friends, and re-discovering time and again that music helps mightily with the struggle and is fantastic at growing love.