[7] As a teenager, he gathered with peers at a neighbor's kitchen table, where he played guitar to accompany their singing.

[7] 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.

[7][9] He was also an artist leader for Young Tradition Vermont, a youth music and dance program he helped establish.

[8] Sutherland met his spouse, Karen (née Billings), while playing hammered dulcimer at UVM's student center in 1972.

[7] A few years before his death, Sutherland sold his Monkton house and began living with friends in Chittenden County and central Vermont.

[9][12] He moved into a hospice in Montpelier c. October 2022, but remained mentally acute, and received visits from many musicians who played at his bedside.

[10] The Barre Montpelier Times Argus described him as "arguably the dean of Vermont traditional music" in its obituary.