Guy Buttery

Biography

Guy Buttery (born 26 November 1983) is a South African musician primarily known as a guitar player.
Cited as "one of South Africa's most influential artists over the past decade" by The Sunday Independent, Buttery's distinctive acoustic style is influenced by traditional South African culture, music and instrumentation. In live performances, Guy also uses an EBow and a looper to create "synth-like textures". He is influenced by artists such as Michael Hedges, Steve Newman, Madala Kunene, Tony Cox, Tananas, Led Zeppelin, Mark Kozelek and Ralph Towner. Guy has received numerous accolades for his recorded work as well as for his live performances. He has collaborated, toured, supported and recorded with dozens of artists including Dave Matthews, Jethro Tull, multiple Grammy Award winner and founder of Windham Hill Records, William Ackerman, Vusi Mahlasela, Derek Gripper, Piers Faccini, Kaki King, Dan Patlansky, Shawn Phillips, Violent Femmes, Martin Simpson, Salif Keita, the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra, Steve Newman, Jon Gomm, Preston Reed and many others.

History

Guy Buttery was born in a small coastal town outside of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He has found a way to play his unique style of guitar that is deeply South African while also speaking a global musical language. He studied Jazz at Kwa-Zulu Natal Technikon with Nibs van der Spuy and later on at the Durban School of Music, where he studied classical guitar with Leandros Stavrou for a brief period. At the age of 18, Guy Buttery's debut album was nominated for 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best Instrumental' at the South African Music Awards (SAMA's) making him the youngest nominee in the history of the event. Guy has since gone on to collect four SAMA's in 2010, 2014 and in 2026. He has also received numerous other major accolades including The Ovation Award for his live performances at the National Arts Festival, and has been honoured with more of these prestigious awards than any other musician.
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 artists 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 a 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.
Guy has since been 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.
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.
2025 saw Buttery's long standing orchestral project finally released in the form of the studio album "Orchestrations". Despite the record coming close to never seeing the light of day at all, the project took over 12 years to complete and has been described as something of a "magnum opus". With Buttery's own guitar at the centre of the work, "Orchestrations" was crafted over many years with orchestral arranger Chris Letcher. Recorded across ten countries, the album features collaborative contributions from several renowned artists including Kaki King, Madala Kunene, Derek Gripper, Louis Mhlanga, Julian Sartorius, Mudassir Khan and Pino Forastiere. The album went on to win two South Africa Music Awards (in the Best Instrumental and Best Engineer categories) as well as being nominated by the public for Album of the Year.

Guest features and compilation appearances

Nibs van der Spuy — Flower in the Rain (2002) — mandolin
Vusi Mahlasela (with Dave Matthews) — Guiding Star (Naledi Ya Tsela) (2006) — guitar, mandolin
Nibs van der Spuy — Beautiful Feet (2006) — guitar, sitar, mandolin
Cabins in the Forest — Spells for Bribes (2008) — sitar, saw
Luke Siedle — Our Stories (2008) — co-producer, mandolin, guitar
Nibs van der Spuy — A Bird in the Hand (2008) — mandolin, sitar
Julian Redpath — Shipwrecks EP (2009) — ebow, saw
Farryl Purkiss — Fruitbats & Crows (2009) — guitar
Dan Patlansky — Move My Soul (2009) — sitar, guitar, claps
Eland Gray — Contraption Distoria (2010) — ebow, guitar
Nibs van der Spuy — A House Across the River (2010) — sitar
Versions of Joanna — Joanna Newsom Tribute Album — Compilation (2010) — guitar, loops, ebow
Lilo — Lossless (2010) — ebow, saw
Andrew James & The Steady Tiger — Red in Tooth and Claw (2011) — guitar, mandolin, engineer
Home Grown Music — Vol. 1 — Compilation (2011) — koto, monochord
South African Music Awards — Vol. 1 — Compilation (2011) — guitar
Eland Gray — Midnight Atlas (2012) — mbira
Nibs van der Spuy — Crossing Borders, Driving North — Compilation (2013) — mandolin, guitar, sitar
Hinds Brothers — Ocean of Milk (2013) — sitar, tanpura
Eland Gray — My Memory's Death (2013) — sitar
Madala Kunene — 1959 (2015) — guitar, sitar, saw
Seb Goldswain — Pictures of a Thousand Words (2015) — engineer
Julian Redpath — Maiden Moonlight (2015) — co-producer, engineer, saw, synth-guitar
Splashy Fen — 25 — Compilation (2015) — mbira
Nibs van der Spuy — Natalia (2016) — guitar
Madala Kunene — Khaya Records 7" Series Vol. III (2017) — producer, engineer, guitar
Daniel Basckin — Archive (2017) — co-producer, sitar
Kanada Narahari — Vistar (2018) — producer, engineer
Cape Town Folk 'n Acoustic Music Festival — Live at Kirstenbosch — DVD Compilation (2018) — mbira, guitar
La Vache — Toi Matelot EP (2019) — sitar
Songlines — Top Of The World 155 — Compilation (2020) — guitar, tanpura
Nibs van der Spuy — A Circle of Swallows — Compilation (2020) — mandolin, guitar, sitar
James Yorkston — other folk, remixed (2020) — electric guitar
Madala Kunene — Forest Jam Vol. III (2020) — guitar
Aidan Martin — Just Like Water (2020) — guitar
Radiant Tribe — The Heart Sutra (2020) — ebow
Shane Cooper — Small Songs For Big Times Vol.2 (2020) — swarmandal, tanpura, passerelle guitar
Innisfree — Empire Unbecoming (2020) — swarmandal
The Rough Guide To Spiritual India — Compilation (2022) — guitar, tanpura
Nibs van der Spuy — Maiden of the River (2022) — swarmandal, sitar, engineer
Moodship — Relics (2023) — sitar
Wren Hinds — Don't Die In The Bundu (2023) — swarmandal, shakuhachi
Piers Faccini — Songs I Love Volume II (2023) — acoustic guitar
Madala Kunene — Remixes 2023 Reel One (2023) — acoustic guitar
Derek Gripper — Lost Time: Bach's First Cello Suite (2024) — tanpura
Jonno Sweetman — Otherside (2024) — acoustic guitar, ebow
Shajara Ensemble — Shajara (2024) — ebow
Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys — A Human Home (2024) — guitar, ebow, frame drum, shakuhachi, tanpura
Derek Gripper — Everyday Things: Bach's Second Cello Suite (2024) — tanpura
Songlines — Top Of The World 206 — Compilation (2025) — sitar, tanpura
Moodship — What I Couldn't Carry (2025) — swarmandal, drones
Innisfree — A View (2026) — sitar, engineer
Innisfree — Wherever You Go, You See Them (2026) — guitar, sitar, engineer