In the title song of his debut album, Valley of Tees, Vin Garbutt painted a Blakean vision in which the dark and satanic industrial landscape of his native northeast was restored to become part of England’s green and pleasant land once again.
It was an evocative expression of the folk tradition and it earned him the epithet the “Teesside Troubadour”, the title of a 2010 documentary about his life and work. As one critic noted, if the River Tees could sing then it would sound like Garbutt.
The song reflected only one side of Garbutt’s songcraft, which was marked by anger, protest, humour and a social conscience. A noted storyteller who punctuated his music with funny, rambling anecdotes, his combination of modern protest songs and traditional ballads made him one of the biggest attractions on the British folk scene and won him the prize for the best live act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2001. He also had an international following, particularly in Australia where he toured regularly.
He never broke out from the folk scene into mainstream pop, but that was largely his own choice. His website admitted that he preferred to be “a big fish in a small pond” to safeguard his “need for privacy and a balanced home life”, while noting that the small pond had grown considerably. “In folk clubs you hear songs about real things — coal mines and shipyards closing down,” he said. “It’s like an underground movement of social songs of injustice.”
He had many admirers, particularly among his fellow musicians. Alan Whetton, the sax player with Dexys Midnight Runners and Shakin’ Stevens among others, produced two albums for him and Robbie McIntosh, who played for the Pretenders and in Paul McCartney’s backing band, guested on Garbutt’s records. The American singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright was another fan. “He really sticks his neck out and occasionally gets it kicked in,” Wainwright noted.
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Some were deterred by how far he was prepared to stick his neck out. A devout Roman Catholic, Garbutt courted controversy with two outspoken anti-abortion songs, Little Innocents and The Secret. Audiences sometimes walked out or protested noisily when he sang them, but he was always ready to debate the issue. His anti-abortion stance also cost him bookings. Despite six acclaimed appearances at the Cambridge Folk Festival as a young man, after 1990 he was never invited to appear again. He accused the festival — the highlight of the British folk calendar — of banning him on the grounds of political correctness. The organisers denied the charge.
Born Vincent Paul Garbutt in Middlesbrough in 1947, his English Protestant father, Alfred, worked at the Dorman Long steelworks, while his Irish mother, Theresa, sang Celtic folk songs around the house.
On leaving St Peter’s Catholic school he signed on for a six-year apprenticeship at a chemical plant in Redcar, spending his evenings at the Middlesbrough Rifle Club singing the Irish repertoire that he had learnt at home. On completing his apprenticeship at the age of 21 he went to Spain, spending the summer busking in bars.
When he returned home he joined a folk group called the Teesside Fettlers, but soon chose to become a solo performer. Struck by the lack of a tradition of local folk songs sung in the vernacular in Teesside, he began to augment his repertoire with his own songs, inspired by the people, culture and countryside around him. The result was his 1972 debut album.
In 1977 he married Pat Austen, who survives him with their four children — Emma, a full-time parent and volunteer breastfeeding peer supporter, Tim, a chartered legal executive, Katie, an administrator, and Louis, a business development manager — and spent the rest of his life balancing family life with a touring schedule made more demanding by the fact he did not drive and had to use public transport.
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He underwent heart surgery in 2005, but required further treatment earlier this year. After a long period in intensive care he returned home and announced that he was ready for a return to the folk clubs. His website listed an extensive gig list through to 2018, but it was not to be.
Vin Garbutt, folk singer, was born on November 20, 1947. He died from heart disease on June 6, 2017, aged 69