Middle Years
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 It Easy after 30 Years on the Road” tour. To coincide with the tour he released his Word of Mouth CD, 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 CD was issued, Garbutt's first ever compilation CD 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.
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Famous quotes containing the words middle and/or years:
“In public buildings set aside for the care and maintenance of the goods of the middle ages, a staff of civil service art attendants praise all the dead, irrelevant scribblings and scrawlings that, at best, have only historical interest for idiots and layabouts.”
—George Grosz (1893–1959)
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