{{Short description|American folk musician (1951–2022)}} {{use mdy dates|date=February 2023}} {{use American English|date=February 2023}} {{hatnote group| {{about-distinguish|the folk musician|Peter Sutherland}} {{for|the character|Pete Sutherland (Home and Away character){{!}}Pete Sutherland {{(-}}''Home and Away'' character)}} }} {{Infobox musical artist | image = Pete Sutherland at Sacred Harp 2017.jpg | caption = Sutherland leading Sacred Harp singing in 2017 | birth_name = Peter Jeffrey Sutherland | birth_date = {{Birth date|1951|05|13}} | birth_place = Burlington, Vermont, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|11|30|1951|05|13}} | death_place = Montpelier, Vermont, U.S. | genre = Folk | current_member_of = {{hlist|Pete's Posse|Clayfoot Strutters|Metamora|Woods Tea Company}} | spouse = {{marriage|Karen Billings|end=div}}<br>1 child }}
'''Peter Jeffrey Sutherland''' (May 13, 1951 – November 30, 2022) was an American folk musician. He was considered a leader of the Americana and traditional music scene in Vermont.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vnews.com/Sharing-the-Wealth-of-Folk-Music-23839639|work=Valley News|title=Highlights: Pete Sutherland brings his zeal for teaching to the Valley|access-date=25 February 2023|archive-date=December 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205191603/https://www.vnews.com/Sharing-the-Wealth-of-Folk-Music-23839639|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vermontstage.org/pete-sutherland-bio.html|title=Pete Sutherland Bio|website=Vermont Stage|access-date=25 February 2023|archive-date=December 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205190532/https://www.vermontstage.org/pete-sutherland-bio.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vtfolklife.org/untapped-blog/episode-17-audio-diary|title=Episode 17: The Audio Diary of Pete Sutherland|website=Vermont Folklife|access-date=25 February 2023|archive-date=December 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205190614/https://www.vtfolklife.org/untapped-blog/episode-17-audio-diary|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NCPR">{{cite news |last1=Moe |first1=Todd |title=Listen: Vermont's Pete Sutherland makes rural music, with kids |url=https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/24503/20140402/listen-vermont-s-pete-sutherland-makes-rural-music-with-kids |access-date=25 February 2023 |publisher=North Country Public Radio |date=April 2, 2014 |location=Canton, New York |archive-date=February 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225051326/https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/24503/20140402/listen-vermont-s-pete-sutherland-makes-rural-music-with-kids |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite episode | host = Fran Stoddard | subject2 = Pete Sutherland | date = March 24, 2006 | title = Pete Sutherland | series = Profile | season = 5 | number = 23 | type = Television production | language = en | url = https://video.pbs12.org/video/pete-sutherland-xued3m/ | access-date = February 25, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221205190721/https://video.pbs12.org/video/pete-sutherland-xued3m/ | archive-date = December 5, 2022 | publisher = KBDI-TV | url-status = live }}</ref> He performed with the Clayfoot Strutters and was the bandleader of Pete's Posse. In addition to performing, he was actively involved with teaching music throughout his career. He worked with organizations like Young Tradition Vermont.
== Early life and education == Sutherland was born on May 13, 1951, in Burlington, Vermont.<ref name="7Days obit">{{cite news |date=December 2, 2023 |title=Vermont Folk Musician Pete Sutherland Dies at 71 |website=Seven Days |url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/vermont-folk-musician-pete-sutherland-dies-at-71/Content?oid=37055160 |access-date=25 February 2023 |archive-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205173920/https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/vermont-folk-musician-pete-sutherland-dies-at-71/Content?oid=37055160 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="7Days profile">{{cite news |last1=Pollak |first1=Sally |date=December 14, 2022 |title=Life Stories: Musician Pete Sutherland Was a 'Unifying Force' |language=en |work=Seven Days |url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/life-stories-musician-pete-sutherland-was-a-unifying-force/Content?oid=37141229 |access-date=25 February 2023 |archive-date=February 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225051305/https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/life-stories-musician-pete-sutherland-was-a-unifying-force/Content?oid=37141229 |url-status=live }}</ref> His mother, Mary Lou, was a classical pianist and homemaker.<ref name="7Days profile" /> His father, Bob, worked at General Electric.<ref name="7Days profile" /> He grew up in a small house on a dirt road in Shelburne, Vermont, the oldest of four brothers.<ref name="7Days profile" />
Sutherland showed an early interest in music. His mother said that he "could hum a recognizable tune before he could talk."<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Pollak |first1=Sally |date=7 December 2000 |title=A contemporary ballad |pages=49,[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119702406/sutherland-songwriter-captures-vermont/ 50] |work=The Burlington Free Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119702307/a-contemporary-ballad/ |access-date=25 February 2023 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225231606/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119702307/a-contemporary-ballad/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He also took piano lessons.<ref name="7Days profile" /> As a teenager, he gathered with peers at a neighbor's kitchen table, where he played guitar to accompany their singing.<ref name="7Days profile" />
After graduating from Champlain Valley Union High School, he enrolled at Castleton State College, where he learned banjo and fiddle and developed his musical interests.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |title=Remembering Pete Sutherland: How the longtime performer left a legacy in Vermont music |website=Burlington Free Press |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/life/arts/2022/12/02/pete-sutherland-obituary-vermont-fiddler-musician-performer-mentor/69695404007/ |access-date=25 February 2023 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323032305/https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/life/arts/2022/12/02/pete-sutherland-obituary-vermont-fiddler-musician-performer-mentor/69695404007/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> He transferred to the University of Vermont his junior year,<ref name=":0" /><ref name="7Days profile" /> where he majored in English and education.<ref name="7Days profile" />
== Career == [[File:Pete Sutherland playing at Bristol town tribute.jpg|thumb|Sutherland (''left'') playing mandolin in Bristol, Vermont, 2017]] In the 1970s, Sutherland spent time in North Carolina learning bluegrass traditions.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> He held various jobs, including apple picking, to support himself.<ref name=":0" />
In the 1980s, Sutherland moved to Bloomington, Indiana.<ref name="7Days profile" /> He toured with a band called Metamora, visiting every state except Hawaii.<ref name="7Days profile" />
By 1990, he moved back to Vermont.<ref name="7Days profile" /> He played with various musical groups, including the Clayfoot Strutters and Pete's Posse, where he was the bandleader.<ref name="7Days profile" /><ref name=":2" /> He was also an artist leader for Young Tradition Vermont, a youth music and dance program he helped establish.<ref name="7Days profile" /><ref name="Argus">{{cite news |last1=Edelstein |first1=Art |title=Pete Sutherland 1951-2022: A legacy of traditional music, mentoring and teaching |language=en |work=Times Argus |url=https://www.timesargus.com/tac/pete-sutherland-1951-2022-a-legacy-of-traditional-music-mentoring-and-teaching/article_e6e26305-c728-52f0-9061-a3c73f10f957.html |access-date=25 February 2023 |archive-date=February 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230225051305/https://www.timesargus.com/tac/pete-sutherland-1951-2022-a-legacy-of-traditional-music-mentoring-and-teaching/article_e6e26305-c728-52f0-9061-a3c73f10f957.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
Sutherland mentored many young musicians, including Oliver Scanlon,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-07-13 |title=Old West Church folk concert celebrates Pete Sutherland |pages=D2 |work=Rutland Daily Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119874421/old-west-church-folk-concert-celebrates/ |access-date=2023-02-28 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=February 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228072220/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119874421/old-west-church-folk-concert-celebrates/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Schulman-Hall |first=Juliet |date=December 2, 2022 |title=Folk musician Pete Sutherland dies at 71 |website=VTDigger |url=https://vtdigger.org/2022/12/02/folk-musician-pete-sutherland-dies-at-71/ |access-date=25 February 2023 |archive-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205173859/https://vtdigger.org/2022/12/02/folk-musician-pete-sutherland-dies-at-71/ |url-status=live }}</ref> who joined his contra dance band as a fourth grader and later joined Pete's Posse.<ref name="7Days profile" /> The band gained prominence during a 2002 cross-country tour.<ref name="7Days profile" />
Sutherland performed regularly for the Vermont seasonal production "Winter Tales".<ref name="7Days profile" /><ref name=":2" /> He was also the music producer for the Old Meeting House summer concert in East Montpelier, Vermont.<ref name="Argus" />
He hosted concerts at his house for approximately $10, discounted by a dollar for anyone who brought their own chair.<ref name=":0" />
== Personal life == Sutherland met his spouse, Karen ({{Nee|Billings}}), while playing hammered dulcimer at UVM's student center in 1972.<ref name="7Days profile" /><ref name="Duet">{{cite news |last1=Levine |first1=Michael |title=Two Musicians Have Three Careers: Hers, His and Theirs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121453123/two-musicians-have-three-careers-hers/ |access-date=23 March 2023 |work=The Burlington Free Press |date=26 June 1982 |pages=5,[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121453225/duet-plays-at-coffeehouse/ 10]}}</ref> They had a son, Calem, {{Circa|1990}},<ref name=":0" /> and divorced {{Circa|2016}}.<ref name="7Days profile" />
Sutherland lived in a converted former general store in Monkton, Vermont.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="7Days profile" /> He maintained a large garden and foraged for food.<ref name="7Days profile" /> He took an interest in his son's hobbies, including at various points baseball, American history and filmmaking.<ref name="7Days profile" />
== Later life, death, and legacy == [[File:Pete Sutherland at Bristol town tribute.jpg|thumb|Sutherland at a town tribute in Bristol, Vermont, in 2017]] A few years before his death, Sutherland sold his Monkton house and began living with friends in Chittenden County and central Vermont.<ref name="7Days profile" /> He dealt with prostate cancer for more than a decade.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> He moved into a hospice in Montpelier {{Circa|October 2022}}, but remained mentally acute, and received visits from many musicians who played at his bedside.<ref name=":1" /> He ended his life on November 30, 2022, using Vermont's medical aid in dying law.<ref name="7Days profile" />
Sutherland received many tributes after his death praising his contributions, mentoring, and humbleness.<ref name="Argus" /> The ''Barre Montpelier Times Argus'' described him as "arguably the dean of Vermont traditional music" in its obituary.<ref name="Argus" />
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Discogs artist|1191062-Pete-Sutherland}}
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Pete}} Category:Folk musicians from Vermont Category:1951 births Category:2022 deaths Category:People from Shelburne, Vermont Category:Castleton State College alumni Category:University of Vermont alumni Category:People from Monkton, Vermont Category:American music educators Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in Vermont Category:2022 suicides Category:Male suicides Category:Musicians who died by suicide