Background
Garbutt was born in South Bank, Middlesbrough, the son of an English father and an Irish mother.
Garbutt was born in South Bank, Middlesbrough, the son of an English father and an Irish mother.
A significant part of his repertoire consists of protest songs covering topics such as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland (Troubles of Erin), unemployment, and social issues. He discovered folk music while he was still at school, and began visiting and performing at the Rifle Club in Cannon Street, Middlesbrough. After leaving school he was encouraged to become an apprentice at the Imperial Chemical Industries (Imperial Chemical Industries) Wilton chemical plant, near to his home.
During this period he often visited Ireland in search of his musical roots.
At the age of 21, he threw caution to the winds and became a professional musician. Armed with the rich repertoire of songs he had amassed, he spent the first summer busking his way around the bars of Spain"s Mediterranean coast, and on to Morocco via Gibraltar.
lieutenant was then that he found he had a talent for songwriting. Back in England in 1972 he recorded his first album for Bill Leader, The Valley of Tees.
This firmly established him as a singer and songwriter of well-crafted, socially conscious and environmentally aware songs.
During 1999 Garbutt celebrated his 30th year as a professional performer. He spent the early part of the year on a world tour, playing extensively in the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. As soon as he got back to England he set off on his “Take lieutenant Easy after 30 Years on the Road” tour.
To coincide with the tour he released his Word of Mouth Civil Defense, playing in various British venues to packed theatres.
His rambling patter between the songs can take longer than the amount of time singing. During 2001 Garbutt published the first collection of his songs, The Vin Garbutt Songbook.
The collection spans his career from "The Valley of Tees" written in 1971 to "The Troubles of Erin"" written in 1999. Shortly afterwards, the companion Civil Defense was issued, Garbutt"s first ever compilation Civil Defense and another world tour followed in 2004.
A health check highlighted a minor health problem but in early 2005, whilst on a sabbatical trip to Spain, Garbutt"s condition deteriorated.
On his return he was hospitalised and a repair made to one of his heart valves. He has since made a full recovery and is back on the road. In his recuperation period he worked on his album Persona … Grata which was launched at The Sage Gateshead on 6 October 2005.