Larry Butterton

Profile Updated: September 13, 2023
Larry Butterton
Residing In: Apex, NC USA
Spouse/Partner: Pat
Occupation: musician
Children: Mary, born 1983
Meredith, born 1985
After graduating from UNC and DePaul Law School, Mary was More…a public defender on the South Side of Chicago for 8 years,, defending black & Latino gangs, & parents whose children have been taken away by the state. In late 2015 she accepted a Federal Public Defender's position in Denver. She loves Colorado, and is only 40 minutes away from her younger sister Meredith, who lives in Boulder.
Meredith lived in the extremely remote jungle mountains of Panama teaching women's health, English, and how to dig better latrines & how to access cleaner water. She was the only Caucasian living with the Ngabe tribe in north central Panama. She was with the Peace Corps for three years.
Meredith moved back from Panama in December '11. She got accepted to grad school at the University of Colorado in Boulder, & received her Master's Degree in Spanish Linguistics in May '14. After teaching freshman Spanish at the University, she accepted a position with Boulder County, helping the poor with their finances and helping to assimilate Latino people into American culture.
Yes! Attending Reunion
Comments:

Call me Larry (in English) or Senor Mantequilla (Spanish) or Monsieur Bey (French/Creole) or Blanc Fou (Creole) or Nakkum (Hindi)...Working with the poor in El Salvador & Haiti & Jamaica & Turks & Caicos Islands & America-love it! 'Having more fun now than I did in my 20's. I have been photographing people in remote foreign places and American inner cities. I have worked for myself since 1994, and live modestly (by choice)... I enjoy life & travel a lot. I was a single dad of my two daughters for years. My wife Pat of 20 years is a retired nurse practitioner and ran an oncology/gynecology clinic in Chapel Hill.
We helped set up & build a school and medical clinic in EXTREMELY remote Zorange, Haiti, & have been back many times to visit new friends and photograph the population. We helped build homes for the poor in remote areas of El Salvador - that is where I met Pat (from Calgary, Alberta, Canada).
After working with the poor in the mountain jungles of Haiti many times, I went to Port-au-Prince for relief work immediately after the earthquake in January '10. I worked in a makeshift "hospital" (really, just tents) with many amputees (mostly children); took many photos and & kept detailed notes of that terrible time.
September 14, 2010: 'Just completed a 6,485 mile photo tour of the back roads of northern Illinois, Iowa, northern Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta & British Columbia. Met MANY great people (especially on the Indian reservations in South Dakota & Alberta), & had many adventures in the little towns & on the dirt roads in British Columbia.
After playing the blues & R&B for emotionally & physically crippled vets at the VA Hospital in Durham, formed a band (the PEAK CITY BLUES PROJECT) and we continue to play through 2017! The band made it's Raleigh debut on October 14, 2011. It was a rousing, sweaty time with lots of dancing and laughs; LOTS of Broughton '67 folks were in attendance with a packed house.
May 11, 2011: 'Just returned from working with tornado victims in north/central Alabama. It is difficult to describe the devastation and total destruction of the places I worked. The Holt community outside of Tuscaloosa and the Pleasant Grove community, just west of Birmingham, looked like a large bomb had been dropped on them. My jobs were chain sawing trees off of cars & houses & cleaning debris from neighborhoods. I got to play some music for some sad people & they smiled.
I got to play the blues in Scotland (Dufftown & Edinburgh) and in England (Harrowgate & Leeds) in September '12 - what a thrill!
The PEAK CITY BLUES PROJECT played a series of free concerts in the fall & the winter of '13 to raise funds for Haitian mid wives in the remote Z'Orange region of Haiti. These funds allowed LOCAL midwives to work full time to deliver healthy babies & keep new mothers healthy. Our last concert on October 26th raised $3,450 - we are encouraged!
'Got to play the blues at the "House of Blues" in San Diego - fun stuff!
February 11, 2013 - The band's concert on February 9th at the Pour House in Raleigh helped to raise the total of the Haiti Midwife project to over $12,000 - enough for 2 salaries for 2 midwives for a year in Z'Orange, Haiti. Mary Moseley was there - first time I had seen her since 1967! Also, several other Broughton alumni helped make this fund raiser a success!
October '13: just completed a 6,811 mile across the back roads of the US taking photographs of Detroit (a dying city), Craters of the Moon, Idaho, the Oregon & California coasts, & the wild deserts of Nevada & Utah.
May '14: Photographed & explored the "Dust Bowl" areas of the US-Oklahoma & Texas Panhandles, eastern New Mexico, & SE Colorado flat lands. Met many interesting folks & learned a lot!
Christmas Eve 2014 - 'Had the privilege of playing Christmas music at Martin House (a hospice for terminally ill young children) in Boston Spa, North Yorkshire, UK. It was very humbling...also got to play some blues harp in Northern England...those folk love the blues!
In July 2015 we took a 8,395 (almost all back road) mile trip across the most northern (passable) roads in Canada...not quite the Arctic Circle, but pretty far up there! We met so many interesting folks: copper miners, lonely beef ranchers, many indigenous people & folks that had never seen a car from the U.S. with so many bumper stickers! 'Had the privilege of playing blues harp in two different clubs in Calgary...Got stuck on a dirt PATH (not a road-the GPS was wrong) on the side of a mountain in remote eastern Oregon (no tow trucks-not even a tow horse!)...Pat and I pushed & shoved & sweated and grunted but got that Honda out of there - with a burned out clutch. We always have fun and adventure on the road....On August 31st Pat helped deliver daughter Mary's first baby (sweet Vivian) in Chicago..it was a joyful time.
The PEAK CITY BLUES PROJECT continues to play/blow a lot...hope y'all will come hear us and say "Hello!".
The PEAK CITY BLUES PROJECT blew the (musical) doors off of the Apex Music Festival! (9-17-16)
On the road to Colorado in April '17, Pat & I stopped in Asheville & had dinner with Debby Renn (now Wolcott) & her GREAT husband Bill; Debby & I had not seen each other in (literally) 50 years! Deb looks great (like she did at Broughton); we had a fab reunion & look forward to getting back together with she & Bill in the near future. Before Colorado, Pat & I explored some dirt & back roads in western Kansas - who knew Western Kansas could be so interesting?! Lots of small museums in tiny towns ("the Barb Wire Museum", etc.) & interesting people: farmers, cowboys 'High Plains hippies', small town 'just folks' & small town weirdos - they were all great! After visiting family in Denver & Boulder we stopped in Kansas City & heard some terrific Kansas City jazz - & ate the BEST ribs ever. On May 6th the PEAK CITY BLUES PROJECT played a hot gig in downtown Apex...& David Rowland & Ted Margeson & Mike Ferrell showed up!! I had not seen Mike in 50 years (heard this before?) & the next day we talked for a long while & tried to catch up - wow! It was really good to see those guys!
The PEAK CITY BLUES PROJECT played in downtown Apex on June 24...Frank Holt, Bernie McCants, Ted Margeson, George Ball, and Donnell Johnson (all class of '67!) and his wife Judy showed up to hear the band and have some fun! GREAT memories and warm feelings seeing those guys in the audience!
July 2017: 6,806 miles on back roads through northern Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming, Colorado & British Columbia. 'Met some of the finest people the U.S.-and Canada-have to offer. Dirt back roads are great for meeting the 'salt of the Earth' folks. Enjoy your time while you still have your good health!
July…2023…Still playing music A LOT in the PEAK CITY BAND❗️

School Story:

Playing in "The Sands" was the highlight of school for me. MANY good memories and laughs.
Also, meeting the Rolling Stones with Steve Gay (Gaj) & Chuck Spain in 1965, & having a million laughs with Frank Holt about everything & nothing.

Larry's Latest Interactions

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Jan
04
Jan 04, 2024 at 9:07 AM

Posted on: Dec 17, 2023 at 6:09 PM

Big Day for the music man !! (although a little rainy) Keep making the muisic.

Larry Butterton has a birthday today.
Dec
17
Dec 17, 2023 at 4:33 AM
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Jan
04
Jan 04, 2024 at 9:16 AM

Posted on: Sep 13, 2023 at 4:10 PM

Peak City Blues Project/January 2014
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Aug
27
Aug 27, 2023 at 8:04 PM

Well......Bob Brooks. Sigh....our family moved to Raleigh in '63 and I started the 9th grade at Daniels Jr. High. I was a new kid & didn't know anyone. Bob was one of the very first guys I met; he was immediately friendly but not overbearing; 'just a nice 9th grader who was a good dude. We stayed friends through the Broughton years but were not always close; Bob managed "The Sands" for a while but it didn't work out. Still, I ALWAYS considered Bob a friend, and I believe he had a good heart ??.

Bon Voyage, Friend??

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Jul
30
Jul 30, 2023 at 5:32 PM
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Mar
20
Mar 20, 2023 at 4:19 PM

I knew Kevin during the last few years...we were never friends before 2020. I barely remember him from high school. But...he was a quiet guy that stood off by himself in a crowd & it seemed like he wanted to be a part of some kind of friendship. He never started a conversation...so I started one with him at a Broughton Men's luncheon. He was stand-off-ish at first - he probably wondered what I wanted from him - but (slowly) we became acquaintances...then friends. I was REALLY surprised when he actually showed up to hear the PEAK CITY BAND the first time...but he kept coming back, whether we played in Raleigh or Cary or Apex or wherever. He would never dance & would always sit by himself...but he enjoyed himself! He wanted a band t-shirt, but he was a big guy & we didn't have one his size. Finally, I had a 4X size made for him...he LOVED ?? IT??He wore it to every gig after that. I started sending him a birthday card or thank you notes (for coming to the gigs) - and he responded by sending me little (incomprehensible) emails (sometimes several at a time), but I could read between the lines to see that he enjoyed having a friend. Kevin wasn't much of a talker, but he & I started having conversations, and he seemed SO HAPPY to talk about his life & his travels; I would ask him questions & his motor started running...it was like he had stored up years of things to say! Pat & I invited Kevin to sit with us at the Broughton mini-reunion last December. We all had a blast...we talked & laughed (??) & told stories & the guy really came out of his shell. 
It shook me when I learned he had passed. He wasn't my best Bud or a guy I confided in or anything like that...I just learned to enjoy his company and see what a unique guy he was. 
I wish ?? you the best on your new journey, my friend...it really was a pleasure to know you.

 

Larry Butterton has a birthday today.
Dec 17, 2022 at 4:33 AM
Sep 24, 2022 at 4:26 PM

FRIEND KEVIN - ‘HOPE YOU LAUGH AND DANCE ALL DAY ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!

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Dec 17, 2021 at 10:40 AM

Posted on: Dec 17, 2021 at 4:33 AM

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Dec 10, 2021 at 10:55 AM

Posted on: Sep 24, 2021 at 11:18 AM

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS TO YOU KEVIN - ‘HOPE YOU DANCE & LAUGH & SING ALL DAY!!

Jun 06, 2021 at 12:54 PM

Clarkie - ‘hope your 72nd birthday is full of quiet laughs and that you are surrounded by those you love!

Jun 06, 2021 at 12:52 PM

Marilyn - you are a lovely person...‘Hope you THOROUGHLY enjoy your 72nd birthday!

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Jun 05, 2021 at 12:15 PM
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May 23, 2021 at 5:20 PM
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May 23, 2021 at 5:17 PM
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Dec 17, 2020 at 9:51 AM

Posted on: Dec 17, 2020 at 4:33 AM

Larry Butterton has left an In Memory comment for his Profile.
Feb 06, 2020 at 4:33 PM

I was really sorry to hear of Steve's passing. We were best friends at Broughton and started "The Sands" together. Steve turned me on to the blues, which I still play in my band today (2021). Of course, we loved the early Rolling Stones, especially when they were a blues band; the early Rolling Stones made us go back into musical history and listen to the orginal Mississippi/Chicago blues players. Steve had a Volkswagen that we rode in so much it is a wonder the wheels didn't fall off! We also had 1,000,001 laughs at Broughton about anything and everything.
Steve and I roomed together during our freshman year at college - it is a wonder we did not get drafted, since school work was 3rd rate next to playing music! We learned a lot about life in those days...some of it shaking us out of our middle class sleep.
We drifted apart in later years and found life apart from each other, as friends often do. The last time we played music together was 2010 at my house, and I cried...why did we wait 42 years to do this again, my old friend?!
RIP, old buddy...se ya down the road...

 

Dec 19, 2019 at 7:17 PM

keep on rocking in your 72nd year. Glad the music's still in you, bro!
Donnell

Larry Butterton has a birthday today.
Dec 17, 2019 at 4:33 AM
May 30, 2019 at 1:27 PM
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Posted: Sep 13, 2023 at 4:10 PM
Peak City Blues Project/January 2014
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 12:11 AM
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1 week after the 2010 earthquake
Posted: Dec 17, 2013 at 12:11 AM
Apex, NC
w/daughters Meredith & Mary
June 2006