Guy Buttery

BIO

Considered one of the finest acoustic guitarists in South Africa, Guy Buttery's distinctive style is influenced by traditional South African instrumentation and his upbringing in rural KZN. After opening a concert in early 2001 for Gito Baloi and Nibs van der Spuy, both musicians were dumbstruck at his virtuosity. He soon signed to Sheer Sound, who released his debut album, 'When I Grow Up', in late 2002. Buttery was nominated for both Best Instrumental Album and Best Newcomer in 2002 at the tender age of 18.

After creating a unique hybrid fingerstyle technique using both hands on the fretboard, creating polyphonic, percussive and harmonic textures, it wasn’t long before this “one man guitar orchestra” gained a loyal following, with frequent invites to perform in Europe, the UK and the US. He second album, 'Songs from the Cane Fields' (2005) was followed by 'Fox Hill Lane' (2009), which won a SAMA for Best Instrumental Album in 2010. His next two releases, 'To Disappear in Place' (2011) and 2012’s 'In the Shade of the Wild Fig' (with frequent collaborator Nibs van der Spuy) were both nominated in the same category in 2013. His albums 'Live in KwaZulu' (2013) and 'Guy Buttery' also received SAMA nominations, with the former winning the Best Classical and/or Instrumental Album Award.

Guy was then invited to perform his works with the 52-piece KZN Philharmonic Orchestra dubbed “Africa’s greatest ensemble” with his solo performance voted “Top Live Show” by The Cape Times and was selected by the public as one of South Africa’s Top Young Personalities by The Mail & Guardian.

In 2018, Guy received the highest accolade for a musician in South Africa and was awarded the Standard Bank Young Artist Award. In almost 4 decades of honouring artist throughout the country, this was the first time since its inception that the award was presented to a musician outside of the classical realm. The following year, Guy toured across 5 continents and released his debut collaborative album, titled "Nāḍī", with Indian born sitar player and vocalist, Kanada Narahari. The album was voted a "Top of the World" release by leading World Music publication Songlines.

With tours cancelled all around the world due to COVID-19, Buttery went into "studio mode" and released 5 albums in 2020. These releases consisted mostly of archival projects including two live releases (one with Derek Gripper and another with Nibs van der Spuy), a collaborative EP with marimba band and horn section The Bandura Express Marimba Ensemble, a demos release featuring outtakes and unreleased recordings surrounding Guy's 2016 self-titled album and a remix album titled Sonokota EP featuring producers from Wales, Berlin, Maputo, Cape Town and New York.

In 2021 Buttery released yet another collaborative album, this time with traditional Indian classical musicians Mohd. Amjad Khan (tabla) and Mudassir Khan (sarangi). Recorded in a singular session in India in a largely improvised setting, "One Morning in Gurgaon" continues Guy's love affair with the music of the subcontinent. The record received critical acclaim landing up on numerous album of the year lists including NPR, New Sounds and PopMatters and also charted in the World Music Charts Europe. The record was then picked up in Japan for a vinyl release in a curated album series by Qrates.